A man accused of raping a woman at knifepoint was so delusional at the time of his offending he believed the alleged attack was morally justified, a court has been told.
Khateebulla Mirza is accused of breaking into a random woman’s apartment at Auburn, in Sydney’s western suburbs, and raping the occupant at knifepoint while recording the encounter on his phone.
In the hours leading up to the attack, Mirza is also alleged to have indecently touched a woman’s breast in the Inner West suburb of Marrickville.
A month earlier, the 38-year-old allegedly touched a woman on the backside outside a building in Zetland, in the city’s inner south.
Mirza pleaded not guilty to eight charges, including sexual touching without consent, aggravated sexual intercourse without consent and assault.
He is facing a judge-alone trial in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court after claiming a defence of mental impairment.
Today, crown witness and forensic psychiatrist David Greenberg, who met with Mirza twice after the alleged crimes, told the court the 38-year-old truly believed he was being programmed to commit offences.
“All three offences in his mind were morally justified because he was in a game being programmed, that controlled his behaviour was justified even though it was legally wrong,” he said.
Mirza was previously involuntarily hospitalised in a mental health unit, where he began taking anti-psychotic medication.
He began experiencing side effects such as decreased sexual arousal and stopped taking the medication after a few months.
Mirza told the psychiatrist the organisation behind the video game he believed he was in had placed women in his life to get him back to his normal sexual arousal level.
“His acts at the time of offending in all three incidents are directly related to a delusional belief system, a delusional belief system due to schizophrenia,” Greenberg said.
Crown prosecutor Caroline Dobraszczyk pressed the expert on inconsistencies in his assessments of Mirza from the two sessions.
“You are firmly of the opinion … that he didn’t understand the acts,” she asked.
“That is correct,” Greenberg said.
Another forensic psychiatrist, defence witness Adam Martin, previously told the court that Mirza was mentally impaired at the time of the incidents.
Martin said Mirza was experiencing “delusional beliefs” that he was trapped in a video game.
The defence and prosecution are due to make closing submissions this afternoon before Judge Ian Bourke hands down his decision.
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