38-year-old Derry taxi driver found not guilty of rape of teen passenger

A thirty-eight years old taxi driver has been found not guilty following a five day trial at the Crown Court in Derry of raping and of sexually assaulting a drunk female passenger in the back seat of his taxi on Halloween Night 2022.

Paul O'Doherty, a father of two from Farland Way in the Hazelbank area of Derry, was unanimously acquitted of two charges of orally and vaginally raping the nineteen years old woman and unanimously acquitted of two charges of sexually assaulting her after he'd collected her as a fare in the city centre.

The complainant had alleged that the defendant had carried out the sex assaults on her after he'd parked his taxi in a lay by close to her home.

The defendant, who told the jury of eight men and four women that he'd initially denied having any physical or sexual contact with the complainant in order to protect his fiancee, the mother of their two children, said that the complainant had initiated the sexual activity in his taxi. He said he regretted lying to the police during three interviews following his arrest.

The jurors were told that the complainant, who in her evidence said she was a lesbian, was found to have had three and a half times the legal alcohol limit for driving in her blood after she was medically examined following her allegations.

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Traces of a cocaine cutting agent were also found in her system following the medical examination. In her police statement she alleged that the defendant had removed her clothing but in her evidence to the jury she said she'd taken off her clothing herself.

Following the jury's four not guilty verdicts, trial Judge Neil Rafferty K.C. addressed the defendant and said "Mr. O'Doherty you have been found not guilty and you are now free to go".