BREAKING NEWS: A jury in the case of a West Donegal man charged with sexually assaulting a boy just days after they met while bagging turf has failed to reach a verdict.
A two day trial at Letterkenny Circuit Court failed to come to a decision when the jury said they could not decide on a verdict.
The jury of twelve, nine men and three women, returned after 6.30pm this evening after deliberating for more than two hours.
The foreman first returned and said they could not reach a unanimous verdict and later returned to say they could not agree on a verdict.
Judge John O’Hagan discharged the jury and released the accused on continuing bail.
The Director of Public Prosecutions will now decide on the future of the case.
The court heard how a teenager who helped bag turf for three days claimed he was sexually assaulted by an older man he had met while working in the bog.
The youth, who was 15 at the time of the alleged attack, said he was assaulted after being asked to fix a wardrobe at the man’s home.
The teenager, now 17, claims the accused called him and asked him to come to his home and fix a wardrobe and that he would pay him.
When he got to the house on April 30th, 2009, the accused man’s mother and friend were leaving to go and get groceries.
When the teenager went to the bedroom to try and fix the wardrobe, he heard somebody breathing behind him.
He then claims the man pulled down his trousers and pushed him onto the bed.
After he landed on the bed, the alleged attacker then pulled down his own trousers and tried to rape the teenager.
“He tried to stick it in my bum cheeks. I was trying to get him off me but he was too strong for me,” said the youth.
He then claims the 43 year old man then turned him around on the bed and performed oral sex on him for a short time.
The teenager, who gave evidence by videolink, then claimed he broke free and went outside the man’s house and punched his fist against the wall.
He later told a guest of the accused what had happened.
He said he had to report the matter to the Gardai but the accused said he didn’t want to and just wanted it all to go away.
The man said: “I knew by the look of him that something had happened. He was like a rabbit in the headlights.”
The teenager eventually told his father and the other man said he was very relieved.
However barrister for the accused, Peter Nolan, said was it not the case that the incident had simply snowballed and that he had made it all up.
He alleged that the teenager was actually caught by the accused masturbating in his hallway and was left feeling very embarrassed.
He also referred to different doctor’s reports which completely contradicted the evidence given by the alleged victim.
Summing up prosecuting barrister Ms Patricia McLaughlin said there was no animosity between the two men so why would he make all these claims up.
However defence barrister Peter Nolan said there were just too many inconsistencies in the teenager’s evidence to secure a safe conviction beyond reasonable doubt.
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