An Indian migrant has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman by groping her on a Citylink bus to Dublin after falsely claiming he was travelling to a work party.
The 44-yr-old Indian migrant, living in Dublin 4, denied the allegation and said he slept for the entire journey on September 13th, 2024, after travelling to Galway for a day trip to eat fish stew, reports Breaking News.
Dublin District Court was told that the complainant felt she had been touched once or twice from behind and between the coach seats, before contact was made with her side where her bra begins.
Judge John Hughes convicted him and postponed sentencing until March to allow for a probation report on the migrant, proposals regarding compensation, and the preparation of a victim impact statement, reports Breaking News.
The woman told the court she initially felt something against her side and later said she first believed it was an object that had fallen from her pocket.
She said that on a second occasion she saw his hand and smartwatch appear between the seats before pulling back, leading her to think he may have dropped something, reports Breaking News.
She then stood up to make it clear to the accused that she was seated there.
She said he was sitting behind her and described him as wearing sunglasses and being “creepy”, reports Breaking News.
The witness said that the third time she was touched, she felt it on the left side near her waist, with fingertips brushing her hand.
She moved seats and took a photograph of the accused, who partially covered his face with his hand, which she believed was an attempt to block the image, reports Breaking News.
Defence counsel Paul Larkin Coyle BL challenged her version of events and suggested her evidence differed from her original statement.
He told her his client had been asleep during the journey and questioned why she had not raised the issue at the time, putting it to her that his client “did not lay a hand on you, and her allegation did not happen”, reports Breaking News.
The court heard that she contacted her mother and boyfriend by message, and they advised her to alert the driver.
She told the court she did not inform the driver or other passengers because she was frightened and did not want to delay the bus for those travelling on to the airport, while her boyfriend contacted Store Street Garda station, reports Breaking News.
Garda Andrew Seaman, who had received the photo of the accused, waited at a stop in Dublin city centre and approached the migrant.
The accused initially claimed he had left work around lunchtime to attend a work party in Galway, reports Breaking News.
During a later interview, he admitted he had travelled to Galway for a meal because he enjoyed mussels and fish stew at a specific restaurant.
Garda Seaman suggested to him that he had gone to Galway to grope women, but the accused maintained that his sole purpose was to have a meal, reports Breaking News.
The bus driver told gardaí that he had not observed anything unusual.
In his evidence, the migrant said he had travelled alone to Galway and returned the same evening, explaining it was a Friday after a stressful week spent finishing a work project, reports Breaking News.
He acknowledged lying to his family about attending a work-related social event or party.
The father of one said he suffered from a heart condition and was taking medication that caused drowsiness, adding that he tried to avoid stress, while gardaí said it was unusual that he had left work to spend only a few hours in Galway, reports Breaking News.
He said he had consumed two pints that day and insisted he slept throughout the return journey, wore sunglasses to help him sleep, was unaware a photograph had been taken, denied covering his face, but accepted that he was the person shown.
A copy of the photograph was handed into court along with a printout of the message exchange between the complainant and her partner, reports Breaking News.
The court heard that the onboard CCTV system failed to record footage due to a corrupted hard drive, with the defence arguing the case amounted to “he said, she said” with no witnesses.
However, Judge John Hughes said he had assessed the evidence and the credibility of the witnesses and rejected the migrant’s account, reports Breaking News.
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