A man was yesterday cleared of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old youth who claimed he woke up to find the 44-year-old man's hand on his buttock.
Martin Ring, a former publican, denied sexually assaulting the boy in the former publican's apartment in Little Britain Street, Dublin, on February 10th, 2004.
As he was leaving court yesterday, the youth, who cannot be named, came up behind Mr Ring and hit him before bystanders intervened.
Mr Ring claimed the youth had taken an ecstasy tablet and consumed a lot of drink before he (Ring) woke up to find him standing over him saying "you shouldn't have done that" and walking out.
Dublin District Court heard he first met the boy when he and his girlfriend had been babysitting for a woman friend of Mr Ring. The boy drank four or five cans of beer while babysitting.
After giving the girlfriend a lift home, Mr Ring and the boy decided to go to Mr Ring's apartment where the youth said he drank three glasses of wine, but denied he took an ecstasy tablet. Mr Ring claimed he and the boy drank a few glasses of vodka in the apartment.
The boy said he fell asleep on the settee and woke up later to find Mr Ring's hand down his tracksuit bottoms with his hand on his buttock.
The boy said he got up but Mr Ring refused to let him out of the flat, saying he had done nothing.
The boy threatened Mr Ring with a candlestick holder and he (Ring) then gave him the keys of his car, parked in the apartment block.
When he got to the car, he found he was unable to get out of the complex because he did not have the remote controller for the car park gates.
Mr Ring refused to give him "the zapper" and he drove the car into a wall before reversing it into a pillar.
When he still refused to give him the remote controller, the boy took out a wheel brace and smashed all the windows of the car, a Ford Focus.
Mr Ring gave him the remote and he was walking out the gate when gardaí arrived. He immediately told one of the officers that Mr Ring had "put his hand on me arse".
Judge William Early said he had a reasonable doubt about the evidence and he had to dismiss it.
The question of whether it was a sex assault at all, as was alleged by the defence, was "a matter for another day", the judge said.