A taxi-driver put his head in his hands with relief after he was found not guilty of sexually-assaulting a 20 year old woman in his cab.
Jacob Okornoe, of 57 The Elms, Letterkenny had pleaded not guilty to the charge on November 28th, 2010.
The father of three appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court today and was found not guilty by a majority verdict after they deliberated for more than two hours.
The court was told that Okornoe, 35, put his hand on the young woman’s leg and made suggestive advances towards her.
The woman, who cannot be named, told the court that she had been out at her Christmas party with colleagues and got a taxi home.
Another man in the taxi got out and she headed home in the front passenger seat.
She claimed just five minutes into the journey, the driver starting talking suggestively to her.
“He said I was making him hard and that I was a good looking girl. He put his left hand on my right leg and started rubbing it. I pushed him off and told him to stop – he did it again and I was really frightened.
“I understood that hard meant is that I was making his penis hard,” she said.
The young woman asked to get out of the taxi but the driver locked the doors and didn’t speak for the rest of the journey.
“I was really scared” said the woman.
She eventually arrived at a friend of her sister’s house and told them what had happened.
Later that day she made a complaint to Gardai.
The cab-driver was tracked down by CCTV as he was wearing an unusual hat.
The hat was found by Gardai who came to his home with a search warrant.
When interviewed, the taxi-driver said he never made any sexual suggestions or put his hand on the woman’s legs and dint even remember what she was wearing.
He said he thought the woman was a bad woman because she said she was married and that she had just cheated on her husband.
He said he came from a Christian family and that he loved his wife.
He said the woman became angry when he asked her not to smoke in his cab.
Barrister for the accused, Damian Crawford, appealed to the jury to consider their judgement very carefully.
“A conviction for sexual assault is not just for Christmas, it’s for life,” he warned.
After two hours, the jury returned and said they could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Judge John O’Hagan said he would then accept a majority verdict of 11 to 1 or 10 to 2.
The jury returned again a short time later and said they had found the taxi-driver not guilty.