A jury is expected to be sworn in at Armagh Crown Court today to hear evidence in the case of a parish priest accused of sexually abusing two altar boys more than 20 years ago. Last month, the trial of Father Edward Kilpatrick (53), of Murlough, Co Donegal, ended after 10 days with the jury discharged following legal submissions. Since then, an attempt by the cleric's lawyers to have the case against him dismissed was rejected by Judge Tom Burgess in Coleraine Crown Court.
Father Kilpatrick has pleaded not guilty to 19 charges of gross indecency and indecent assault. The offences are alleged to have taken place between March 1975 and August 1981 when he was a curate in Steelstown parish in Derry.