Jury fail to reach verdict on two remaining counts of rape
A jury, who last week convicted a Cork man of a single count of sexual assault, today failed to reach a verdict on the two remaining counts of rape after 12 hours and 31 minutes deliberation.
The man will be sentenced at the Central Criminal Court in January for the sexual assault of a teenage girl.
The jurors had last week also acquitted the man of a further count of sexual assault and one count of rape.
Mr Justice Paul Carney dismissed the jurors and exempted them from jury duty for the rest of their lives.
He declared the defendant a sex offender and remanded him in custody for sentencing on the sexual assault charge on January 24 next.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had pleaded not guilty to three counts of raping the girl on dates between February 29 and September 4, 2004 at two addresses in Cork.
He had also pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexually assaulting the girl on dates between February 14 and December 1, 2004 at two Cork addresses and in a car.
During their deliberations the six men and six women of the jury found the man guilty of one count of sexually assaulting the girl by a majority verdict of 10-2.
The jurors found the man not guilty on a further count of sexual assault and not guilty on one count of rape.
Mr Justice Carney had directed the jury on day two of the trial to find the man not guilty on two further counts of sexual assault due to lack of evidence.
