A bus driver who engaged in a sex act in front of a young female passenger has walked free after a jury delivered a not proven verdict.
The teenager said she was terrified when Ross Docherty pulled the bus into a lay-by and exposed himself.
She told a court: "I would rather have been dead in the ground at that time than on that bus."
Docherty, 33, was accused of sexually assaulting the girl.
This week at Airdrie Sheriff Court, he admitted kissing her and performing a sex act in her presence, but claimed she consented.
Docherty, of Lillybank Avenue, Cambuslang, was found not guilty of making inappropriate comments towards a young mum during another journey two months earlier.
The court heard the teenager was the only passenger on the bus when Docherty pulled into a lay-by between Lanark and Hamilton on May 9 last year.
He claimed he made the six-minute stop because the bus was running ahead of schedule.
The girl, who was 17 at the time, said Docherty grabbed her, kissed her and said, "I'm going to destroy you."
She claimed he exposed himself and tried to get her to touch his penis before committing a sex act in her presence.
The girl admitted sending a text to her sister earlier saying she found the driver attractive, but denied that she had consented to sexual activity with Docherty.
She said: "I was terrified. I didn't want this happening - I was 17.
"I've been trying to blot it out for 16 months. I've been mentally injured since."
Docherty claimed the teenager flirted with him and encouraged him.
His lawyer, Ryan Sloan, told the jury: "He is hugely disappointed in how he conducted himself that day.
"I'm not saying he acted like a gentleman or deserves any credit - he had a girlfriend at the time.
"But what would possibly make him risk his career, liberty and future?"
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