A man who stalked, kidnapped and then raped a drunk woman he had never met says he followed her Uber home from town because he was worried for her safety.
Wiria Mohamadi came across the woman on a night out in town and observed her in an extremely drunk state outside a Christchurch bar in July 2023. He watched her get into an Uber, followed it to her home, abducted her and raped her before claiming she was consenting.
The 40-year-old was sentenced to 11 years and six months imprisonment by Judge Michael Crosbie at the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday. A jury had earlier found him guilty on charges of sexual violation by rape, unlawful sexual connection and abduction for sex. He pleaded guilty to a charge of attempting to pervert the course of justice by providing fraudulent medical certificates to the court to alter his curfew while he was on bail.
“He targeted me on my very worst day, when I was at my most vulnerable,” the victim told the court in an emotional statement. “But I am not powerless. I have had to endure things no person should have to, and survived things no one should have to live with. I have had to learn to say the things he did to me. To name the actions he took. To use the word rape is still deeply unsettling to me. But I want him to know that even if he tells himself he did nothing wrong, he is still a rapist.”
Mohamadi faced forward throughout much of the sentencing.Iain McGregor / The Press
Crown prosecutor Sean Mallett called the woman’s statement one of the most considered and powerful he had heard. “It takes significant courage to make a statement to police and then in court,” he said. Mallett commended her for coming forward, and told the court the Crown was seeking an 11 to 12-year starting point for Mohamadi’s prison sentence. “This is an egregious example of a man preying on a vulnerable woman on a night out.”
Defence lawyer Emma Priest said her client’s lived experiences revealed a “psychiatric matrix”. He came to New Zealand as a refugee from Kyrgyzstan in 1998 and effectively grew up in a war zone. “His relocation has been marred by dislocation, loss of identity [and it] underpins his behaviour,” Priest said.
Mohamadi had limited experience with intoxication because of his cultural differences, and had brain injuries from car crashes that made it hard for him to pick on social cues. His lawyer sought an eight-and-a-half year starting point.
“He did not read the room that night,” Priest said. “[He] believed she was consenting, but understands now she was too intoxicated to do so.”
Mohamadi told a report writer that he was a “volunteer bouncer” and followed the woman’s Uber home because he was worried the driver was “dodgy”.
Judge Michael Crosbie rejected any suggestion Mohamadi was looking out for the woman’s safety when he followed her home. “You knew how intoxicated she was,” he said. “You selected her as your victim, followed her back to her address where an opportunity to take advantage of her might present itself. And it did,” the judge said.
“You watched [her] exit the Uber. You knew she was safe at that point. But you did not stop there.
“I found your conduct chilling.”
The judge said it was extremely difficult to believe Mohamadi had an unreasonable but honest belief in consent. He began at a starting point of 12 years imprisonment and uplifted it by six months for a charge of perverting the court of justice.
Jake Kenny is a justice reporter and member of The Press investigations team.
CCTV captured Mohamadi’s car following the woman’s Uber across town late at night. When he was first interviewed by police he justified and excused his actions, saying he “just drove around” before admitting he followed her home when he was shown the footage.
“You were fully in control in the interview but were caught out and found to have lied in many respects,” Judge Crosbie said.