Eric Freeman, 45, of Malaita was earlier found guilty of three counts of rape.
The incident occurred in the Henderson area after Freeman picked the 19-year-old woman at Rove.
Justice Stephen Pallaras described Freeman as a man who held repugnant views about women.
But he said the accused was not sentenced because of his views but because of what he did to his passenger and how he treated her.
The court earlier head the woman hailed Freeman’s taxi in the middle of a rain storm.
“She not only needed a transport but a shelter as well,” Justice Pallaras said.
The judge said the complainant however found herself in a “storm of a quite different nature”.
“It is a situation from which she could not escape, could not free herself and could not obtain any help.”
Justice Pallaras told Freeman: “You kept her in a speeding car, removed the lock mechanism from the front door, prevented her from opening the window, and threatened to beat her if she resisted or failed to comply with you demands.”
“By having kept the complainant several hours in his captive during whom he raped her three times in his taxi was an extreme example of a bully fueled on beer, tormenting and intimidating a far weaker and helpless victim,” the judge said.
He said the fact that Freeman held the complainant against her will for such a long time is an extremely serious aspect of his crime.
“Your treatment of the complainant is difficult to comprehend until one considers your evidence in this trial.
“Your arrogance and obvious disdain for the complainant was delivered with such an air of self-righteousness that you almost gave the impression that you felt justified in what you did because she was the ‘type’ of girl who deserved to be picked up by you and wanted to be treated in that manner”
Justice Pallaras said when citizens use taxis in their towns and
cities, they board a car being driven by a complete stranger to them.
“They do this as an act of trust which they place in the driver.
“They trust that they will drive safely and within the speed limit,
trust that they know where they are going and that they will deliver them
safely to their chosen destination and they trust that they will treat them
with courtesy and respect.”
But he said Freeman has breached all of these aspects of trust.
By Assumpta Buchanan
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