Jury unable to agree verdicts in trial of three men

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A jury returned disagreed verdicts on all eight counts against three men at the Central Criminal Court on 5 April 2023, after a three-week trial. The proceedings were reported on 5 April 2023.

The first defendant had pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault. The second had pleaded not guilty to rape, oral rape and two counts of sexual assault. The third had pleaded not guilty to rape and oral rape.

The offences were alleged to have occurred at a hotel car park in Leinster on 20 December 2017, when the complainant was 17. The State’s case was that each defendant raped her in turn after she went for a drive with them. The men denied wrongdoing and said the sex was consensual.

In her closing speech, prosecuting counsel Alice Fawsitt SC said the complainant’s evidence was that she said no to the defendants’ requests for sex and they did not listen. Defence counsel suggested there were inconsistencies in the complainant’s evidence that affected her credibility.

The jury told Justice Melanie Greally it could not reach a verdict after deliberating for just over nine hours. She adjourned the case for mention to 28 April.