A taxi driver, who was hired to take a passenger to Campbellville, but took her to a street close to the seawall against her will, was yesterday remanded to prison when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
The allegation is that on October 20 at Georgetown, Orin Matthews, 29, a taxi driver of lot T 46 North Sophia and attached to R&T taxi service, unlawfully confined an 18-year-old female, preventing her from exiting his car.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge of unlawful confinement when it was read to him by the acting chief magistrate.
The defendant told the court that he does not know the virtual complainant (VC) and added that on the night in question at about 11:00, he was gambling with some friends near the Stabroek Market when he was approached and beaten by a group of men before being taken to the Brickdam Police Station where he was later charged.
The VC told the court that she went to the Stabroek Car Park and hired the defendant to take her to Campbellville because she realised that his car was attached to a well-known taxi service, R&T, which made her feel safe as opposed to travelling with, “someone who works alone.”
The VC said she then noticed the accused taking her through a number of streets far from the Campbellville area and when she enquired from him where he was going, he said he was “just making a fine spin to Bel Air Springs to uplift something.”
The VC said she told the defendant that she was paying him for a service and he should be heading to her destination before going any place else.
She said the driver began to speed and as he passed Bel Air Springs, she asked him again where he was going, by which time she was overwhelmed with fear.
She said he told her, “shut up an yuh gun see where ah carrying yuh.”
The VC said that at this point she began “behaving bad” arguing and raising her voice at the accused. She said he then turned into a street alongside the seawall road. Noting that the street was badly damaged, she said the man had to proceed very slowly.
Once on the bumpy road, the VC said, she carefully gauged her chances and calculated that since the man had to drive so slowly, she would be able to escape and “run for her life.” She said this was exactly what she did.
Once out of the car, she said, she ran as far as she could out to the East Coast Public Road.
She said she couldn’t say exactly where she had been taken and that where she was, “really was the last thing on my mind. I just wanted to get out of the car and to safety.”
The 18-year-old told the court that once on the East Coast Public Road she stopped a car being driven by a senior citizen, calculating that this time if anything were to go wrong she would at least have a physical advantage over him once he carried no weapon.
“I was prepared to fight for my life,” she said. When she related to the senior citizen all that had happened, she said, he decided to take her to the police station.
However, she said, she told the man to take her home to her family so she could explain what had transpired before being taken to the station.
She said that her family and the driver then went back to the park with her where she was able to “positively point out” the perpetrator, who by this time had already returned to the park himself. A mobile police patrol that was in the area was summoned and the accused was taken into police custody.
The unrepresented Matthews was later remanded to prison and ordered to return to court on November 12.
