A FLINTSHIRE taxi driver has been cleared of sexually assaulting a disabled passenger after helping her into her home.

Manoj Kuttiyani, 48 of Hawarden Road, Penyfford denied “pouncing” on the woman after picking her up from a pub shortly after 6pm in February last year.

It took the jury of eight women and four men around thirty minutes to find the taxi driver not guilty of the charge.

Father of three Kuttiyani had earlier told Mold Crown Court how he recalled picking up the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, just before 6.15pm and that she had been “chatty” on the journey to her home, with the pair talking about his work as a taxi driver, his life in India and Indian food.

According to Kuttiyani, the woman, who the court was told relied on crutches for her mobility, asked if he would help her into the house – which the defendant said was not an unusual request if a passenger struggled with their mobility.

Kuttiyani went on to explain how he helped the woman up the path, which was treacherous due to the poor weather, and into the house through the back door. Once inside, he went on to say how he helped the woman further by boiling a kettle and filling a hot water bottle. After following the woman into the lounge area, he said she told him he was “a very nice man” and kissed him and because he had not wanted to offend her, bent down and reciprocated the kiss for a period of three seconds, after which he said he could taste alcohol on his tongue.

Despite the woman accusing Kuttiyani of pouncing on her, groping her, both on the left breast and between the legs and telling her he wanted to have an affair with her, she admitted that the statements she provided to police after the incident differed from the account she provided to the court.

When she had been asked to explain this, she said the police officers taking the statements had been “wrong”.

She also claimed never to have used the taxi firm before, but Kurrityani said how he had picked her up on one previous occasion, although she had been with another passenger at the time, and just a week after the incident, the court heard how she had used the same firm to take another journey.

Kuttiyani, who said he was “not a bad person” and only gave her another kiss because he was being “courteous”, clasped his hands together when Judge Niclas Parry was told he was free to leave the dock.

Judge Parry said: “You leave this court with your good character intact.”