From Plymouth Herald 10 September 2010
Czech taxi driver says he is relieved to be cleared of voyeurism charge
By graham broach herald reporter
A PLYMOUTH taxi driver from the Czech Republic has spoken of his relief after being acquitted of a voyeurism charge.
A jury of eight women and four men yesterday took less than an hour to reach a unanimous not guilty verdict on Michael Kostka, who had denied the charge.
After being released from the dock at Plymouth Crown Court, Mr Kostka hugged his blonde wife Jindriska, who burst into tears.
Outside, Mr Kostka, 37, told The Herald: "It has been very stressful for me, my family and friends, and I felt helpless.
"But I am really relieved and happy that justice has been done."
Mr Kostka, who has a grown-up son studying in the Czech Republic and two younger children living with him and his wife in Plymouth, said he was not currently working but now hoped to resume driving a taxi in Plymouth.
He thanked his solicitor, Geoff Parlby, and barrister Deni Mathews, as well as the two female interpreters who helped him at the trial and his family and friends who supported him through it.
Jindriska said: "Even after all we have been through, we love living in Plymouth."
Mr Kostka had been accused of spying on women taking a shower at Fort Stamford Health and Fitness Centre in Jennycliff on December 14 last year.
Prosecutor Jo Martin alleged he had concealed himself in the women's changing room, using a reflective drain cover to watch two women showering in an adjoining cubicle and then committing an indecent act.
But Mr Kostka said he had taken a fare from the city centre to Plymstock, then drove to the health club at nearby Hooe, where he hoped for another fare.
Not wanting to sit in his car, he went into the club and asked for information because he thought he and his family might join the club, but while looking around he began to feel dizzy and sweaty.
"In the morning, if I have no breakfast, I see stars and I have to drink," he said.
Under cross-examination, he admitted he could read the sign for ''Ladies' and recognised the female symbol, but had not seen the signs on the changing room door.
"I was not feeling well." he said. "I just went in like a bull and I didn't see it."
Spotting a mirror and basin through an open door, he rinsed his face and had a drink of water but then, hearing female voices, realised to his horror he was in the wrong place.
He tried to hide in a shower cubicle until the coast was clear, but then heard the shower being turned on next door.
"My heart was pumping. I wanted to leave but I heard somebody else," he said. "I sat down on a bench, put my head in my hands and waited."
Mr Kostka admitted he had glanced in the reflective drain cover, but only to check if he could be seen from the other side.
He saw only the wall and tiles.
When a woman came into his changing room and pushed the door, he held it closed and then locked it.
He later left the cubicle but was detained by club staff and then arrested.
Asked by Miss Martin: "You knew you had done a bad thing?" he replied: "I felt sick and there were women there.
"The combination was simply shocking."
He added: "If I could speak perfect English, I could have explained it in two minutes."
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/m- ... ticle.html
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