French woman tells court of sexual assault in Cork
A young French woman told a Central Criminal Court jury how she was sexually assaulted in Cork by the driver of a taxi she had hailed in the early hours of the morning.
The jury was earlier told by prosecuting counsel, Ms Deirdre Murphy SC (with Mr Tony Hunt BL), when outlining the case, that the accused stole a taxi, took the woman as a passenger, and subjected her to a two-hour ordeal before letting her go and then setting fire to the vehicle.
The 41-year-old accused has pleaded not guilty to four charges of aggravated sexual assault on the woman, assault with intent to rob her, hijacking a minibus taxi and arson of the vehicle on September 7, 2000 in Cork city.
The alleged victim said she was a UCC student at the time and was on her way to the airport, when she hailed a white mini bus outside her home believing it to be a taxi. She wanted to get into the front passenger seat but the driver directed her to get into the back.
She said that after taking a wrong turn he pulled over, held a weapon to her throat and went through her bags demanding money. He took stockings from her luggage and wore them over his head.
The alleged victim told Ms Murphy he then ordered her to remain lying under a coat while he drove further before stopping again. The woman cried in court as she told how the man returned to the back of the bus and ordered her to undress.
He held what she realised was a screwdriver to various parts of her body as he demanded she touch her own genitals. She said he touched her genitals with his tongue and told her to perform oral sex on him.
He stopped when she told him she didn’t know how and was afraid of hurting him. She described her attacker as stocky, medium height with dark hair and a rough voice.
The hearing continues before Mr Justice Daniel Herbert and a jury of six men and six women.