Middlesbrough taxi driver cleared of sexual assault
Jun 30 2010
A judge told jurors they had made the right decision as they cleared a taxi driver of sexual assault.
Javaid Ahmed, 27, was found not guilty of sexually assaulting a young woman in his cab.
The jury reached its unanimous verdict at Teesside Crown Court yesterday afternoon.
Then the judge, Recorder Anton Lodge QC, said: “Members of the jury, well done.
“You have reached I think the correct verdict.”
Then he corrected himself, adding: “I know you have reached the correct verdict. You can leave the court now with my thanks.”
He added: “Sitting here as a job lot of 12... to carry out one of the most important public functions that people are asked to do, you alone decide the guilt or innocence of our fellow citizens.
“It’s never an easy job to do.”
Ahmed, of Poplar Grove, Middlesbrough, denied the sexual assault charge.
He denied touching a female passenger while taking her from Redcar to Middlesbrough in the early hours of August 9 last year.
He denied locking the car doors or suggesting she “pay in kind” when it emerged she didn’t have enough money to pay the fare minutes into the journey.
He said the customer rejected his suggestions of taking her to a cashpoint machine or asking her boyfriend to pay the fare when they got to Middlesbrough.
He said she climbed from the back seat to the front and fell towards him, and he briefly touched her leg as he guided her on to the front passenger seat.
He told the court: “She came towards me. She lost her balance.
“That’s when I nudged her and guided her down.
“It all happened in a split second. It certainly came as a bit of a shock.”
He maintained his innocence and said he did nothing beyond helping her to the seat.
Then he said he told her she would have to leave the taxi if she could not pay.
Ahmed, who had no previous convictions, was released from court after the jury’s decision.
Source; gazettelive.co.uk
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