Taxi driver gets four years for sex assault

A former Dublin taxi driver has been given a four-year sentence for sexually assaulting a female passenger on her way home from a Christmas party. Judge Patrick McCartan said the message must be sent from the courts to people in such professions that they must not abuse their position. The 51-year-old Cavan resident, who can not be named for legal reasons, was convicted of the charge by a jury following a three-day trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last March. He continues to maintain his innocence. He had pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the woman outside his cab after driving her to her Dublin home in the early hours of December 11, 2005. Judge McCartan noted that the victim had taken the number of his taxi and had no difficulty in pointing him out in an identity parade. He noted the woman's evidence that the accused had made enquires of her designed to establish if there was anyone at her home to meet her. He imposed a sentence of four years but suspended the final two years. He banned the accused from driving for ten years noting that he had used his car to facilitate the offence. The 45-year-old woman told Damien Colgan BL, prosecuting, that the incident has affected her confidence and she no longer wants to appear attractive or feminine and does not want to be noticed by anyone. Detective Garda Emma Clerkin told Mr. Colgan the woman had hailed a taxi on her way home from a Christmas party despite being just a short distance from home, because her feet were sore and the street was badly lit. Det Gda Clerkin said the woman sat behind the driver and bent down to take her shoes off. She became uneasy when the man reached behind to grab her feet, offered to give her a foot massage and began asking her personal questions about her love life. The woman later told gardaí that the driver's questions felt like a "Spanish Inquisition". Det Gda Clerkin told Mr. Colgan that the woman felt nervous and concerned when the driver then asked her out for a drink. He confronted her as she got out of the car, pinned her arms against her body, placed his hand around her groin when her coat fell open and rapidly inserted his finger in and out of her vagina while asking her for a kiss. Det Gda Clerkin said the woman managed to get the taxi plate number as she broke away from her assailant and she wrote this and the man's description on a blackboard in her kitchen. The man went to a garda station the month after the woman had complained and agreed to take part in an identity parade, though he made no comment when gardaí put the allegations to him in interview. The detective garda agreed with Barry Hickson SC, defending, that his client had stopped working as a taxi driver after the incident. Mr. Hickson said the man does not accept the verdict of the jury and in those circumstances he was unable to address the court regarding remorse or apologies. He handed in written testimonials of the man's good character from family and neighbours. He said it was now impossible for the man to work as a taxi driver and a custodial sentence would have a devastating effect on him and his family. The man's daughter told Judge McCartan that the accused was the "best dad" and that he had often made sure her friends got home safely after nights out. She said she did not want to lose her father to prison. She said she could only express sympathy for the ordeal the victim had suffered.