Murder trial jury sent home as 'complex legal issue' arises

The jury in the trial of two Lithuanian men charged with murdering a woman in Wexford last year has been sent home so legal research can take place.

Mr Justice Barry White told the jury of seven men and five women that a complex legal issue had arisen.

“The issue that has arisen relates to a new piece of legislation,” he said. “I’m proposing that both myself and counsel spend the day researching.”

Ruslanas Mineikas (aged 26) and Ricardas Dilys (aged 28) of Goodtide Harbour and formerly of Davitt Road South, both in Wexford Town, have pleaded not guilty to murdering mother-of-two Rebecca French on October 9, 2009 in a house in Ard Na Dara, Clonard.

Fire fighters found the 30-year-old’s body that afternoon as they quenched a blaze in her car about two kilometres away. She had died of blunt force trauma to the head.

The trial continues tomorrow.