The trial of a man accused of sexually assaulting his sister was abandoned while the jury was being sworn in after she told the court she was unable to go ahead with the case. "I just don't feel I can do it any more," she told Judge Patrick McCartan at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
She denied she was under pressure to withdraw her evidence and said she understood the consequences of not giving evidence. Two years ago, the man went on trial accused of 19 counts of indecent assault against the woman and two counts of sexual assault or indecent assault against her six-year-old daughter.
That trial collapsed after all the evidence had been heard because the charges relating to the six-year-old had been brought under two different pieces of legislation. Judge Michael White had ruled that evidence on the 19 counts of indecent assault on the accused man's sister could not be considered by the jury because they had heard prejudicial evidence from the young girl.