The trial of a man facing indecent assault charges collapsed at Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court yesterday after it emerged that the jury had been given a document which the judge said it should never have seen.
Judge Raymond Groarke said that because of this, the three-day trial had been a waste of public money and time. He apologised to the jury and asked the prosecution and defence teams how it could happen.
"I hate wasting public money and time the public are paying for; you have been at this case for three days and now I am in a predicament, how I can be convinced your minds have in no way been poisoned," he said.
The 55-year-old accused man had pleaded not guilty to six counts of indecent assault on a girl between 1983 and 1989 when she would have been aged between six and 12 years.
She gave evidence and was cross-examined on the first day of the trial. On the second day, evidence concluded and yesterday the judge charged the jury and it went to consider its verdict.
The jurors were given copies of certain exhibits including a memo of an interview given by a witness. However it later emerged they were also given a photocopy of another statement which was not admissible in court.
Before copies of documents such as statements or memos of interviews of witnesses in trials are given to juries, they have to be checked and agreed by both sides. It emerged that a number of documents had been photocopied and a mistake resulted in a typed copy of the wrong statement being given to the jury.
Judge Groarke told the jury: "I cannot allow you further consideration of the case because the statement has in it matter that could never be admissible in a case of this type." The jury had been deliberating for over three hours before the mistake came to light after Judge Groarke was asked a question relating to the document.
The judge said that in the interests of justice and fairness, he could not allow the case to continue. "In the event the accused was convicted, how could he leave this court and say that it was a fair trial?" he asked.
The Director of Public Prosecutions is to decide if the man will be retried on the same charges.