'Hopelessly deadlocked' jury fails to reach verdict in Cork sexual assault trial

The jury had been directed earlier in the trial to find the accused not guilty of rape.

The case was adjourned for a date to be set for a new trial on the two sexual assault charges.

A bar manager at a Cork city centre nightspot followed a young man and woman from the premises because he felt “something was not sitting right” and now a jury has failed to reach agreement on any verdict where the man faced two counts of sexually assaulting the woman.

A jury of seven men and five women indicated through the jury foreperson that they were “hopelessly deadlocked” and failed to reach any verdict after just over five hours of deliberation at the Central Criminal Court. They had been directed earlier in the trial to find him not guilty of rape.

Mr Justice Paul Coffey explained to the jury in that regard: “There has been a defence application to withdraw the rape charge on the basis that there was no evidence of penetration. I have acceded to that application. You are no longer concerned with the charge of rape. 

"There is no direct evidence (the complainant) was penetrated. She had no memory of being with the accused at all. The surrounding forensic evidence would not go far enough to show that there was penetration. You are now only concerned with two counts of sexual assault.” 

Too intoxicated to give consent?

Prosecution senior counsel, Siobhán Lankford, cross-examined the defendant saying witnesses said: “She would have fallen if he had not been holding her up?” The defendant said she was not so drunk and that she was not falling to the side. 

He said: “She was kissing me and I was kissing her.” Ms Lankford SC said: “It was clear to you and to others she was too intoxicated to consent at that time.” He replied: “I don’t agree about this. I don’t think she was so drunk.” 

Ms Lankford said: “You knew she was drunk and you realised people had seen you and that is why you picked this girl up, went around the corner and crossed the bridge?” He replied: “That is not true.” 

He said they went in that direction because the complainant wanted to go to another place. He denied the two counts of sexual assault – one relating to before they crossed the bridge and one after.

Testimony from two bar managers

Earlier in the case the bar manager at the city centre night spot, where the parties met on October 19, 2019, told the seven men and five women that he saw a man and woman kissing as they left the premises. 

“Once they stopped, they moved on a bit and you could see the girl was fairly intoxicated and was being carried up the road – she was kind of being carried. (The man) was walking steadily enough.

“I contacted another manager for his opinion on it. He hopped into his car to spin around the block,” he said.

The other manager testified: “The red flag was she was trying to walk away and he kept pulling her back. It was around 10.30/10.40pm. The best way I can describe it is, he kept coaxing her up the road. 

"She tried to walk away on a couple of occasions and he kept pulling her back, coaxing her up the road. I told (other manager) something was not sitting right.” A short time later he saw both of them on the side of the road and both had their pants down. 

He said: "We grabbed the man by the arm and held him against the wall. He wasn’t fighting back or anything like this. He had everything down. His privates were still out. 

Her pants and underwear were down… She was very slurred, very disoriented. She was distressed, she was crying, she was speaking gibberish.

Tom Creed, defence senior counsel, said to this witness: “You were the trigger in this case coming to court. You made a judgement call. You are the trigger causing it to be here.” He replied: “I called the guards, yeah.” 

Mr Creed said the bar manager must have seen himself as The Good Samaritan. The defence lawyer brought the witness’s attention to the testimony of other witnesses that the complainant was going over and back to the defendant hugging him, even after the arrival of the manager and others at the scene of the second alleged sexual assault. 

The bar manager said: “As far as I could see she did not go near him after we arrived.” Mr Creed said of the accused: “He appeared quite relaxed. Friends saw her laughing, hand-in-hand with this man. But by your suggestion she was not capable of walking?” 

The witness said in his view “she was struggling to walk.” Mr Creed said: “That is the rock this case is built on – your view.” 

The case was adjourned for a date to be set for a new trial on the two sexual assault charges.