Accused denies attack

A TOP level Cairns soccer player accused of gang raping a woman with his taxi driver mate denied the incident to police and claimed his friend dropped him at home, a court heard.

Jacob Lahai, 27, was initially charged with five counts of rape of a 32-yearold woman in May 2016.

But the Cairns District Court heard on Wednesday prosecutors have now dropped two of the charges against him.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

A police interview with the Premier League player was played during the second day of the trial.

In it, Mr Lahai claimed he recalled the night and that he got into the taxi driven by his 31-year-old friend Bobby Johnson outside Gilligan’s, and a woman climbed in afterwards.

He said he was dropped at a Westcourt residence.

However, GPS mapping from the taxi shown to the court showed the vehicle travelled to Bungalow before the meter was switched off.

“Bobby dropped me off and that was it,” Mr Lahai said. He told the interviewing detectives he was “100 per cent sure” he did not travel in Mr Johnson’s private vehicle that night.

The prosecution has alleged the woman was transferred into a second car at the taxi depot, taken to an unknown location in Parramatta Park and raped by both men.

The court heard she was allegedly left beside the road wearing just her bra before calling police from a payphone. Forensic scientist and DNA expert Angela Adamson told the court traces of the taxi driver’s DNA was located on sections of the woman’s clothing, but none of Mr Lahai’s.

Forensic medical officer

Dr Les Griffiths told the court they typically only found physical injuries in the genital area of rape victims in less than a third of cases.

“I don’t always expect to see an injury,” he said.

“The absence of injuries … does not exclude the possibility the person has been (raped).”

The court heard traces of blood were found on both the woman’s dress and leggings.