A former Western Isles councillor walked free from court today after being cleared of all charges against him, including allegations of sexual assault.
Donald John Macrae of South Shawbost, Lewis, was on trial at Stornoway Sheriff Court on claims he acted inappropriately while working as a taxi driver.
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In addition, the 47-
Macrae had also faced allegations of assaulting a person on the Pentland Road and
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Charges involving one female were dropped.
Defence lawyer Jennifer Pritchard successfully argued that there was no case to answer over the five remaining allegations concerning two women.
She said there insufficient evidence with no pattern of sexual misconduct as there was no corroboration and none of the allegations were similar.
Doubt existed in one case of a teenager being touched on her breast in his taxi because another passenger said she never saw anything, said the solicitor.
In evidence, the woman had told the court she did not have cash for the fare and Macrae “would not let us out” and wanted paid in “another way.”
Macrae touched her breast she told the court.
In another incident, a different woman said Macrae attacked her after she hired his taxi.
She told the court he stopped his cab at a carpark toilet at the Bràighe road between Stornoway and Point in 2011.
Macrae left the car to go to the toilets use but soon returned looking for a torch, saying the toilets were in darkness, she said.
“I told him I could use my mobile phone light,”she said.
The witness said she stood outside with her arm inside the door holding the phone.
“He grabbed my arm firmly and pulled me into the toilet.
“He said he wanted to have sex with me and he tried to force himself on me.
The woman continued: “I told him to get off me and I threw him and went back to the car.”
Macrae returned to the vehicle a few minutes later and drove her to her destination in silence.
The woman continued: “I told him to get off me and I threw him and went back to the car.”
She said she could have but did not dial 999.
Macrae returned to the vehicle a few minutes later and drove her to her destination in silence.
Solicitor Jennifer Pritchard yesterday told Sheriff David Sutherland that despite the alleged assault, the woman went back into the taxi and “didn‘t feel she needed the police.”
The trial was unusual as two procurator fiscals led the crown’s case on different days.
Alison Wyllie flew in this morning (Thurs) after usual fiscal Karen Smith fell ill.
Ms Wyllie urged the sheriff to continue the trial, maintaining there was similar behaviour in each incident with a “taxi driver on duty and on each occasion there a lone female sitting in the front seat when these matters occur.”
Sheriff David Sutherland acquitted Macrae saying there a discrepancy of when the alleged assaults took place with vagueness over dates plus the different in the and the question time gap meant there was no sufficiency of evidence.
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1 November 2018