Paul Bryan, a taxi driver from The Bungalow, Newtowncunningham, Donegal, was sentenced to jail for sexually assaulting a young passenger, 18 years old, on her ride to Derry. The incident happened on October 22nd, 2017, to which Bryan pleaded guilty on two accounts – sexual assault and sexual assault by penetration.
Judge Neil Rafferty KC, presiding at the Derry Crown Court, affirmed the young woman’s righteousness, reciting her personal ordeal that she was a survivor rather than a victim. “I was a victim for a few hours, I am a survivor for seven years”, her statement read. Accepting the delay in proceedings, the judge recognised the hold it put on her life, compelling her to live with the repercussions of such an atrocious incident.
The court discovered that on the aforementioned night, the young woman was separated from her companions during a visit to Letterkenny. Feeling alone and inebriated, she took a taxi to return home to Derry, an act witnessed by several onlookers outside a nightclub. It was during this journey that she was assaulted by Bryan.
Initially, Bryan claimed in his first police interview that the sexual activities were consensual. However, he later confessed to his crimes.
Noting the severe consequences the incident had on her life and the breach of trust between a taxi driver and a vulnerable young passenger, Judge Rafferty referred to it as a case of “high harm and high culpability”. Consequently, Bryan was sentenced to four years, half of which will be served behind bars and the other half on probation. He was also mandated to sign the Sex Offender’s Register for a decade and had a Sexual Offences Prevention Order imposed upon him for the same duration.