A 70-year-old man who is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease has secured a High Court order prohibiting his trial on charges of indecently assaulting a young girl.
The offences are alleged to have occurred between 1974 and 1978.
The Supreme Court had previously directed that the man's trial should proceed but that decision was made before the Alzheimer's disease diagnosis.
In his latest High Court proceedings yesterday, lawyers for the man argued that because he was suffering from early Alzheimer's, he had no clear recollection of events on the relevant dates and there was a real and substantial risk of an unfair trial.
Opposing the application, the Director of Public Prosecutions argued the issue as to whether the man could get a fair trial had already been decided by the Supreme Court in an earlier application, and that the issue as to whether the man was fit to plead was for the trial judge to determine.