Man offered woman a lift home before allegedly trying to sexually assault her

CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to an alleged sexual assault.

An alleged “predatory” man is accused of offering a lift home to a woman he’d just met, then trying to sexually assault her in an attack that only stopped due to her continuous screams.

The woman had been drinking with friends in Canberra city in November 2023 before she left at around 2 am to look for a taxi to go home, court documents say.

She was walking through Braddon when she met and began talking to 43-year-old Youssef Rekni on the street. He offered to drive her home, which she accepted as he seemed “nice”.

When they reached her home, he asked to come inside, then asked for a drink and sat down to have a beer.

When the woman told him she was ready to go to bed and asked him to leave, he allegedly said, “No, I think I’ll stay and have another beer”, which started to make her feel scared.

It is alleged that after drinking three beers, he pushed her onto her back and then sat on top of her.

When she struggled and screamed “stop” and “get off me”, he allegedly put his hand over her mouth to try and silence her.

Mr Rekni allegedly tried to kiss her multiple times, then removed her clothes and tried to digitally rape her.

The woman said she managed to push him off and then called for help from a neighbour, which made him flee her home.

Meanwhile, another neighbour had heard her screams and called Triple Zero, telling police while she didn’t know exactly where the noise was coming from, it sounded like “someone was being beaten up … and potentially being raped”.

When Mr Rekni later spoke to police, he admitted he had been at the woman’s home but claimed they began a consensual sexual interaction before she fell asleep.

He told police he continued to touch her, which made her wake up, then he kept touching her when she told him not to. He said he did stop when she started to scream.

Mr Rekni also claimed he put his hand on her mouth several times to try to quieten her when she screamed.

The embassy worker was handed charges of sexual assault in the second degree, attempted sexual intercourse without consent, burglary and committing an act of indecency without consent.

He applied for bail in the ACT Magistrates Court on Tuesday (13 December), which was opposed by the prosecutor, who described his alleged behaviour as “predatory”.

The prosecutor claimed he had taken advantage of a vulnerable young woman who was alone and clearly intoxicated. Photos showed her bruises and carpet burns, she said.

Also, the prosecutor said Mr Rekni’s claims that the woman only screamed for two to three seconds was not plausible as her screams could be heard in the background of the Triple Zero call.

Mr Rekni’s barrister, James Maher, said his client had voluntarily gone to a police station once he learned they wanted to speak to him.

Mr Maher said Mr Rekni made admissions to police that were against his interests. However, the barrister also said there were still competing versions of events between his client and the woman and he expected not guilty pleas would be entered, then the matter would go to a trial.

His client was born in Morocco, came to Australia 13 years ago, was married and now has Australian citizenship. His wife was aware of the allegations and remained supportive.

Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said the allegations were highly concerning and she expected the woman was likely to be highly distressed and fearful.

However, she said Mr Rekni had no prior criminal history and she had no basis to find that he was unlikely to comply with bail conditions.

Bail was granted on conditions that he live in Holt, remain at home under a curfew, surrender his passports and not go into the woman’s home suburb.

The matter will return to court on 21 December.

If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732 or by visiting www.1800respect.org.au. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT 6280 0900, and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call Triple Zero.