Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Jury discharged in Clare abuse trial

The jury in the case of a County Clare teacher accused of sexually assaulting three boys has been discharged after it failed to reach a verdict on remaining charges involving two of the boys.

The 38-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was last week acquitted of 10 counts of sexual assault against the third boy, reports breakingnews.ie. The man had pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 18 counts of sexually assaulting the boys on dates between September 2002 and June 2004.

The jury of three women and nine men told Judge Patrick McCartan they were deadlocked on the remaining eight counts on day six of the trial following almost six hours of deliberations. He thanked the jurors and discharged them from the trial. Judge McCartan remanded the case for mention later this month.