A court in Samoa has sentenced a taxi driver to 16 years imprisonment after he was found guilty of raping his passenger.
The court heard on the morning of Independence Day celebrations on June 1 last year, the victim who is a 20 year old tertiary student, got into a taxi after the march at Tuanaimato and asked the driver to drop her in town.
The young woman told the Court that there were no buses, so she jumped into a taxi at about 9am
The taxi driver, Latana Fretton instead took the young woman to an isolated spot where he raped her.
He then proceeded to drop her in town where she had originally intended to go.
A complaint was lodged with the police on the same day of the incident and Fretton was subsequently arrested.
Fretton was earlier found guilty by the assessors during the trial last month.
The court also heard that despite previous sexual offence convictions, Fretton held a license to operate and drive a taxi as issued by the Land and Transport Authority (LTA).