The jury in the trial of a Tipperary sports coach charged with sexually assaulting four young girls has been discharged due to media reports in which he was named and photographed.
Judge Dominic Lynch at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court said, in view of some newspapers linking the accused with his well-known brother, he had no option but to discharge the jury.
When the trial resumed yesterday morning, defence counsel Mr Peter Charleton SC complained that the media had published his client's name, address and photograph and linked him to his brother.
Mr Charleton said the media should not have published his client's name and that reporting restrictions applied in this type of case.
Mr Kenneth Mills SC, prosecuting, rejected this contention and told Judge Lynch that the name of a person charged with sexual assault simpliciter could be published.
Mr Mills said only in the case of a person charged with rape under the 1981 Rape Act was there a legal reporting restriction on publishing the accused's identity, except in certain circumstances.
Mr Charleton said that before the jury was sworn in, Judge Patrick McCartan had made an order imposing reporting restrictions. A similar order had been made at Limerick District Court.
Judge Lynch said the decision made by some of the newspapers to publish the name of the accused's well-known brother diminished the possibility of a fair trial and he had no option but to discharge the jury so a new trial could take place.
Mr Charleton said the newspapers had made an error of judgment. He added that if newspapers could not get their stories right they should pack up and go home.