Youth cleared of girl's rape

A Dublin youth has been cleared by a Central Criminal Court jury of raping a then 15-year-old girl in a south Dublin wooded area…

A Dublin youth has been cleared by a Central Criminal Court jury of raping a then 15-year-old girl in a south Dublin wooded area where teenagers met to drink. The jury of six men and six women also found him not guilty of sexually assaulting the girl on the same occasion beside St Raphaela's Convent, Upper Kilmacud Road, Stillorgan.

The jury took 21/2 hours to reach its verdicts after a four-day trial. The now 19-year-old youth had pleaded not guilty to committing the offences on October 17th, 1997.