Hotelier cleared of sex assault charges
A WELL-KNOWN Mitchelstown hotelier has been cleared of sexually assaulting a 25-year-old former employee who alleged that he had asked her to become his mistress.
District court judge Olann Kelleher ruled that he was "not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt" that Pat Tangney of Cloghleafin, who owns both the Firgove and Clongibbon House hotels in Mitchelstown, had sexually assaulted the female at Clongibbon House on February 13, 2011.
Fermoy District Court was told that the woman had gone to the Firgove Hotel with her mother and daughter for lunch on the day of the alleged assault.
At the Firgrove she fell into conversation with Mr Tangney who told her that he might have a few hours work for her if she was stuck for money.
The woman said she would be interested in work and the pair agreed to meet later on in the afternoon at Clonbibbon House to discuss the issue.
She told the court she had worked for Mr Tangney a number of years previously, but had been fired by him for being, by her own admission, an unreliable employee.
After arriving at the Clongibbon, the woman said Mr Tangney asked her to come upstairs to an office area where he asked her for an up to date contact number.
She alleged that he said he had missed her and asked shy she had not stayed in contact.
She then said Mr Tangney had caught her hands and tried to kiss her on the lips. She further claimed that he asked her to be his mistress and that she could have a car and "have it all".
The woman said she was "very uncomfortable and scared" and that Mr Tangney had one hand motioning around his genital area.
She said she then managed to get away and went downstairs "as fast as I could" to her mother before they drove away.
Later that night she went to gardai to lodge a complaint after discussing the issue with her mother.
Mr Tangney's solicitor, Tony Daly, pointed out there was no physical evidence of an assault and that his client had an excellent reputation among his staff.
He also questioned the woman about her internet activity. However, Judge Kelleher dismissed the line of questioning as it was based on innuendo.
In evidence, Mr Tangney said he was astounded at the allegations made against him and that they were totally untrue.
Summing up, Judge Kelleher said the female was honest and frank in her evidence and that it was unusual that the interview did take place in an upstairs office with no one else around.
He dismissed the charge, saying that there were two differing versions of events and that it had not been proven "beyond a reasonable doubt" that a sexual assault had taken place.
- BILL BROWNE BBROWNE@CORKMAN.IE
