A Limerick taxi driver who raped and sexually assaulted a female passenger two years ago after driving her to an isolated area has been jailed for seven years.

43-year-old John Ryan, a married father of two,  of Clonard, Westbury was found guilty by a jury at the Central Criminal Court last November.

He had pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault of the 21-year-old woman on October 17, 2007 after picking her up in his cab a short distance from a Limerick nightclub.