New jury to be sworn in for Mountjoy murder trial
Another jury will be sworn in next week for the trial of a Dublin man accused of murdering fellow prisoner Gary Douche in Mountjoy, it emerged this afternoon.
The 10 women and two men sworn in yesterday for the trial of Stephen Egan, of Belcamp Cresent, Coolock, were discharged earlier today after it emerged that a jury member may have been from the same area as the dead man.
Informing the panel that he would be discharging them, Mr Justice Paul Carney said he had forced cases on in the past with 11 jurors, but that his decision had not been backed by the Court of Criminal Appeal which had accused him of breaching the European Convention of Human Rights.
21-year-old Gary Douche was beaten to death in a holding cell in Mountjoy in August 2006, after he had asked to be moved there for protection.
Stephen Egan is pleading not guilty to murder.
