A Dublin taxi driver has been charged with raping a young woman in the back of his car.
The man, who is in his late forties, appeared before Dublin District Court yesterday.
Gardaí have charged the accused with raping the passenger, who is in her early twenties, in the early hours of August 9th. The court heard the man "made no reply" to the charge but had earlier claimed he had consensual sex with the woman.
Gardaí told the hearing that the accused collected the young woman outside a Dublin city centre venue at about 4 am to bring her home. It was alleged he turned down a male passenger before accepting a fare from the woman, who sat in the back seat.
The court heard that there was CCTV evidence and that he was later "observed driving around aimlessly" in north Co. Dublin for about 13 minutes.
It was alleged he stopped and got into the back seat, and raped the young woman for eight minutes.
Judge Patricia Cronin remanded the man in custody with consent to €2,500 bail with a range of conditions, including that he resides at an address he furnished to court, sign on at a local garda station three days a week and obey a 10 pm to 7 am curfew.
The judge ordered the accused to surrender his PSV licence and not to carry out any taxi work for himself or a third party.
He's to appear before Cloverhill District Court on August 31st.
