The trial of a boy who was 13 years old when he allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl has been adjourned for a second consecutive day without the hearing of any evidence as the accused is in hospital.
Two teenagers are on trial at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork charged with raping a girl in a car at Limerick racecourse in Patrickswell on December 26th, 2022. The boys were 13 and 15 at the time of the alleged offence.
A third teenager, who was also 15 at the time of the alleged offence, is charged with aiding and abetting the two youths and falsely imprisoning the girl.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott on Wednesday briefly addressed the jury in relation to the illness of one of the accused.
Conor McGregor presidential bid: All but one of 188 councillors would not vote for MMA fighter, survey shows
Ireland weather: Sunshine and temperatures up to 17 degrees expected, say Met Éireann
Adolescence in teenagers’ own words: ‘Parents have absolutely no idea’
Steve Wall: ‘When Bono was offered the medal, I tweeted: Surely he won’t accept that. I didn’t know he already had’
“The position in relation to (name of teenaged accused) is that he is still under review medically.
“I am hopeful that this will resolve things tomorrow morning. Obviously, people are taking their time dealing with the matter on the medical front. I have to ask you to come back tomorrow.
“I don’t want to interrupt the flow of matters if that can be avoided. I hope we will have more positive news tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, last week the trial was delayed by a day after one juror fainted and another experienced a cardiac event. Dr Aoife Fanning was in the witness box on March 18th last giving evidence of examining the complainant at a Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in Limerick on the evening of December 26th, 2022 when a juror became visibly unwell.
The court was cleared shortly before noon and Dr Fanning assessed and treated the patient. It was established that the juror had fainted. The case was adjourned until 215pm to see if the juror would be physically able to resume his duties.
However, when Mr Justice McDermott entered the courtroom that afternoon he was informed that another juror had experienced an emergency cardiac episode over lunchtime. The second juror was also initially assessed at the scene by Dr Fanning. The trial proceeded before a jury of nine women and two men having lost one juror.
