She said she had been robbed of her voice, her rights as a woman and of the precious memories she once had of spending time on the road with her truck driver father.<\/p>\n
Truck driver Shamsher Singh walks into the dock at the Nelson District Court for sentencing on charges of rape and sexual assault. Photo \/ Tracy Neal<\/p>\n
Crown prosecutor Sophie O\u2019Donoghue said the victim, who suffered severe bruising from being grabbed and being forcibly held down in the attack, was especially vulnerable having been stuck in the middle of nowhere, in the early hours of the morning.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Donoghue said Singh had displayed \u201ccomplete indifference\u201d to the victim, who had not demonstrated any interest in sexual activity with him, other than a \u201cpeck\u201d on the cheek outside the truck.<\/p>\n
Singh had also told her afterwards, as detailed in a pre-sentence report, that the victim \u201chad a choice\u201d and \u201ccould have escaped sooner\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer options for escape were limited,\u201d O\u2019Donoghue said during today\u2019s sentencing in the Nelson District Court<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cHe raped her in the cruddy cab of a truck in the middle of nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Safe and secure\u2019 with dad<\/p>\n The victim spoke through her tears of growing up, \u201csafe and secure\u201d riding in the cab of the truck with her dad from the age of 5.<\/p>\n It\u2019s why she agreed to go with Singh on the commercial freight run between Nelson and Marlborough, and back again.<\/p>\n \u201cYou stole those happy memories from me when you held me down and raped me,\u201d the woman said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou left me feeling disgusted and ashamed and I blamed myself for what happened, and for getting in your truck.\u201d<\/p>\n Singh, 33, was found guilty by a jury but continued to deny he had done anything wrong.<\/p>\n Met on dating app<\/p>\n The pair connected on a dating app and had lunch in Nelson<\/a> on a day in January 2024.<\/p>\n When the woman told Singh her father was a truck driver, and that she had grown up around trucks, he invited her to join him on the night run to Blenheim<\/a>.<\/p>\n They left Nelson just after 9pm and started the return journey after midnight.<\/p>\n The woman had been asleep on the bed in the truck cab when Singh, who had pulled off the road in Rai Valley<\/a>, about halfway between Nelson and Blenheim, \u201cpounced\u201d on her immediately after he stopped the vehicle, Judge Stephen Harrop said.<\/p>\n He described it as an attack because Singh continued to grab the woman despite her repeated objections.<\/p>\n When she continued to fight him, he said, \u201cF*** it, I\u2019m horny, let\u2019s do it\u201d, pinned her down and raped her, then asked if she was okay.<\/p>\n Once back in Nelson, she left the freight depot and immediately called the police.<\/p>\n Judge Harrop said a subsequent medical examination revealed her significant bruising, which \u201cspoke of the level of resistance\u201d and Singh\u2019s level of force.<\/p>\n He said regardless of what happened beforehand, what mattered was what happened in the Rai Valley, which was what Singh was being sentenced for.<\/p>\n Judge Harrop said aggravating features included that the woman had been alone in the truck, she didn\u2019t know where she was, and it was in the early hours of the morning.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was in a very vulnerable situation, and you raped her,\u201d Judge Harrop said.<\/p>\n He said the additional violence made it worse, as was Singh\u2019s continual denial of the offending.<\/p>\n He was not remorseful, offered no apology and had not attended restorative justice, all factors that might have led to a reduction in his sentence.<\/p>\n \u2018Out of character\u2019<\/p>\n Defence lawyer Paul Borich, KC, said Singh was married, had two young children and had a sound work history. He was held in high regard by friends and colleagues and had received a letter of support from the South Island branch of the NZ Sikh Society.<\/a><\/p>\n Borich said while it was devastating for Singh\u2019s family, his wife remained supportive.<\/p>\n He said it was an \u201cout-of-character incident\u201d and sought credit for Singh\u2019s previous good character.<\/p>\nCrown prosecutor Sophie O’Donoghue says Shamsher Singh raped a vulnerable woman in the “cruddy cab of a truck in the middle of nowhere”. Photo \/ Tracy Neal<\/p>\n