A young man who allegedly felt a pensioner's backside before knocking him unconscious was found not guilty.

Kevin Crawford, 22, left Letterkenny Circuit Court today, after a jury a jury took 17 minutes to find him innocent.

The jury of seven women and five men had watched CCTV footage from the Chicken Corner Takeway in Buncrana, which showed footage of the disagreement which took place on April 26th, 2014.

The footage showed Mr Crawford feeling the backside of Patrick ‘Pa’ Deeney, 67, before the pensioner reacted by swinging out an elbow at the accused.

Mr Crawford reacted by throwing a punch at Mr Deeney which knocked him unconscious.

The Donegal Daily reported that Mr Deeney’s son-in-law Shay Kinsella assisted him at the scene.

In his evidence, Mr Crawford said he had been in a car crash several months before the incident in the chip-shop and had broken two bones in his jaw.

He said he was left in huge pain when Mr Deeney struck him with his elbow.

He denied that he was homosexual but said he liked girls and was only feeling Mr Deeney’s bum for a bit of fun as he had consumed four pints and was in great spirits.

Mr Crawford grandfather gave evidence that he contacted Pa Deeney about five weeks after the incident to see how he was.

He alleged that Mr Deeney called his grandson a “queer bastard” and told him to send him away before he is found dead.