A 36-year-old cab driver was on Friday remanded in custody after he was accused of groping a female passenger. 

Waqas Hassan, a Pakistani national living in St Paul’s Bay, was arraigned in court on Friday afternoon, where he pleaded not guilty to committing a non-consensual act of a sexual nature.

Prosecuting inspector Roderick Attard told the court the police were informed about the case during the early hours of April 8.

The 20-year-old Swedish victim, whose name cannot be published by court order, told the police she took a cab from Paceville to her Swieqi home.

The accused drove her to her home, but did not stop - instead, he kept on driving to Buġibba where he allegedly touched her without her consent.

The police inspector added that the woman told them she was drunk during the incident.

Before the officer could explain further, defence lawyer Nicholas Mifsud said he was more interested in knowing the circumstances around his client’s arrest rather than the merits.

Attard said an arrest warrant was requested and confirmed that they had not found the accused at home when they went to arrest him. He did, however, voluntarily turn himself in at the St Julian’s Police Station.

He was arrested on the spot and given his letter of rights and reasons on why he had been arrested.

The man pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

Mifsud requested bail.

Prosecutor Jennifer Polidano objected, saying the accused knew where she lived and that she had not yet testified. She also underlined the man’s lack of ties to Malta.

Mifsud countered, saying that the man has been living in Malta for the past three years, and the nature of the offence cannot be the main objection when arguing against the man being given bail.

He insisted his client and the victim did not know each other, and in any case, the court could issue a protection order and an added condition to ensure that he does not go through the road where she lives.

This would be in addition to the usual bail conditions.

The defence lawyer highlighted that if the man, who is still presumed innocent until found guilty, is kept in preventive custody, he would lose his Single Work Permit, “because that’s how Identità works - the minute you enter prison you lose your residence permit”.

Magistrate Noel Bartolo, who presided over the court, denied the man bail.

Lawyer Tiziana Micallef also assisted the accused.