A BENDIGO taxi driver accused of raping three women has been committed to stand trial.
Robert McNeil Byrnes, 44, appeared in the Bendigo Magistrates Court this morning and was ordered to return in July.
Magistrate Jennifer Tregent said six witnesses would be cross-examined in the three-day trial.
In the meantime Byrnes has been ordered to stay out of Bendigo, with bail conditions restricting him from entering a 60km radius of the Bendigo CBD.
Byrnes has been ordered to report daily to Echuca police and put under a curfew where he cannot leave his home between the hours of 9pm and 6am without his wife’s company.
Byrnes was arrested last year and charged with a series of sex offences including four counts of rape, unlawful assault and false imprisonment.
Police allege the offences were committed in March, April and October last year, and said two of the alleged victims were passengers in Byrnes’ taxi.