The trial of a garda accused of sexually assaulting his niece collapsed yesterday when the judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict him.
The accused wept with relief at Waterford Circuit Court after Judge John O'Hagan directed the jury of eight men and four women to return a "not guilty" verdict on three charges of sexual assault against him.
Eight other charges of sexual assault against the man, who was godfather and uncle of the alleged victim, were thrown out because there was no evidence to support them.
The alleged victim is now 16 years old and the offences were alleged to have occurred between October 1st, 1994, and August 31st, 1997.
Evidence was given during the trial, which lasted a day and a half, by the alleged victim, her mother, grandmother, a friend and her aunt who was married to the accused at the time of the offences but separated from him after learning he had an affair.
The girl gave evidence in court of three alleged incidents that occurred when she was aged between 10 and 12.
Judge O'Hagan concluded that the evidence was very vague and conflicting and lacked corroboration. He said he was satisfied that there was not enough evidence and he would be directing the jury to give a verdict of not guilty.
The judge told the court that the girl had a lot of problems at the time and couldn't say that the accused was doing anything wrong, but just that she felt uncomfortable.
He said at no stage did she say that she felt she was afraid.
The judge said the accused became a figure of hate in the household and had remained so. He pointed to a comment the girl made in court in which she said she wanted something bad to happen to him because of the harm he had done the family.