A jury failed to agree on a verdict last night in the trial of a 42 year old man who denied raping his young brother in law in Cork during July 1993. After more than three hours of deliberation in the Central Criminal Court, the jury indicated agreement could not be reached.
Mr Justice Flood discharged the jury and listed the case for mention on February 6th next to fix a new trial date.
During the three day trial, the accused man had pleaded not guilty to three charges of raping the now 14 year old boy as he played on a computer in the man's house. In evidence the alleged victim claimed he was raped on about 12 occasions by the accused man.
But the father of two denied the charges from the witness box. He told his counsel, Mr Blaise O'Carroll SC (with Mr Brendan Grehan), he was "dumbfounded" when the allegations were made initially.
In his closing address to the jury, Mr Grehan said the defence had called a character witness, a medical expert and the accused man to prove he would not, could not, and did not commit the offences as alleged by the boy.