A jury in a rape trial has been discharged after a juror asked the judge to excuse him from the panel because he said he felt uncomfortable around his fellow jurors.
A note was handed up to the registrar on behalf of the juror on the third day of the trial before the Central Criminal Court after the complainant had finished her testimony in the trial.
The jury was excused, the note was considered and the juror in question was asked to return to court by himself to explain why he wished to be excused from the trial. He had indicated on the note that it was for “personal reasons”.
The man, who was wearing sunglasses, told Ms Justice Eileen Creedon that he “didn’t quite have the right words to express it” but he felt that every day he was being “slagged” by the other jurors in terms of his clothes and the way he walked. He said he had tried to deal with it but it continued.
He agreed with a suggestion from Ms Justice Creedon that he “felt uncomfortable” serving on the panel. She agreed to excuse him.
The accused man, a Pakistan national, had pleaded not guilty to a charge of rape and sexual assault on a Dublin beach on October 29th, 2015.
Brendan Grehan SC, defending, asked for some time to consider the case based on what the juror had said.
After a short break he told Ms Justice Creedon that he had taken instructions from his client and it was his application that it would be “unsafe for the trial to proceed” and that the jury should be discharged.
Róisín Lacey SC, prosecuting, said her instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions was not to oppose the application.
Ms Justice Creedon brought in the remaining jurors, three women and eight men, and discharged them. She adjourned the trial to next Monday when a new trial date will be set.