John told The New Paper: "I had never even seen the girl before. I don't even remember what she looks like."

He gave conflicting accounts of the incident to the police and medical officers.

And when he spoke to The New Paper after he was acquitted, it was yet another version.

He said: "I was driving at that time though I had a headache. It got very bad so I pulled the hand brake and stopped at the side of the expressway. Then I collapsed to the floor because I had a fit."

His lawyer, Mr Rajan Supramaniam, requested that a psychiatrist and neurologist examine John because of his medical condition and conflicting accounts.

John, who is on daily medication for his epilepsy, suffered two more fits - each lasting two minutes - during his remand at IMH.

During the first fit, he fell to the floor. The second time, he lost control of his bladder.

After the incident, John was sacked. He now helps out at his mother's food stall.

He said he jumped at the bus driver job as "it was the only company that called me back".

He was to be paid $450 a month.

But how did John get the job if he suffers from epilepsy?

Should he even have a driving licence?

The police told The New Paper that anyone suffering from a condition like John's should not be allowed to drive.

John claimed to have applied for many jobs, but declined to say what kind of jobs he had held before.

But John, who studied up to Primary 8, feels the incident has dimmed his job prospects.

"I think nobody will hire me any more," he said. "Even my family and friends are angry with me. They think I did it."

If convicted, John could have been jailed up to five years, and fined or caned.

This article was first published in The New Paper.