Jurors in long-running sex abuse trial warned to treat each other with respect

Isabel Hayes

Jurors in a long-running Central Criminal Court sexual abuse trial have been warned to treat each other with respect after the court heard there has been “disagreement and discord” amongst them.

The trial of seven men accused of familial abuse, primarily against a relative who is deaf, started last October and was originally set down for four months. The jury has been told the trial, which is currently in the cross-examination stage, is “not anywhere close to deliberations”.

An extended panel of 15 jurors was empanelled at the start of the trial, with one since leaving due to personal reasons. On Tuesday, the trial judge Ms Justice Caroline Biggs was given a letter from the jury foreperson outlining some issues the remaining 14 jurors have been having.

Addressing the jury directly, Ms Justice Biggs said the court “readily acknowledges this is an extremely unusual and stressful situation for all of you, taken out of your lives and work and being brought to this environment, which is understandably a high-pressure environment”.

She noted the situation was not helped by jurors often leaving the court for legal issues, and said trial lawyers were working to reduce the amount of time they spend together in the jury room.

“I have to urge you to get on if you can,” Ms Justice Biggs said. “We're not anywhere close to deliberations. That will be an even more stressful time for you.”

She noted that matters seem to have calmed for now, and she asked the jury foreperson to bring any further incidents to her attention immediately.

“I caution and warn all parties that it is absolutely imperative that every single person in this jury in this very stressful environment is treated with absolute respect,” the judge said.

The seven defendants, who are aged between 32 and 55, have pleaded not guilty to a combined total of 103 charges against them, of which 98 counts pertain to the complainant, who is deaf. They are her four younger brothers and three uncles.

They are accused of sexually abusing her at various stages over a 17-year period between 1996 and 2013 and deny any wrongdoing. None of the parties involved can be named for legal reasons.

The woman has completed her evidence-in-chief and is being cross-examined by Michael Hourigan SC, defending the first defendant, Accused A, her uncle.

She is giving evidence via video-link and through two interpreters – an Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreter and a deaf relay – as well as an intermediary who is a linguistics expert. There are also two interpreter monitoring teams present in court to ensure the woman is being interpreted correctly.

Accused A – the woman's 55-year-old uncle - is accused of a single count of raping her on a date between December 2009 and April 2011. He has denied the charge.

On Tuesday, Mr Hourigan asked the complainant if she recalled telling gardaí in 2021 about an incident with another man (not on trial), which she described as “nearly rape” in the same location as the alleged incident involving her uncle.

“He really like forced, you know,” the woman told gardaí about the other man, before signing “vagina”, the court heard. She said this man “made me panic”.

Mr Hourigan put it to the woman that a lot of the things she said about this man and her uncle, Accused A, were the same. He put it to her that both incidents occurred in the same location, that she described the alleged incident with her uncle as “nearly raping”, and that she said she panicked with both men.

“Are you mixing up what you say happened with (your uncle) with what happened with (the other man)?” Mr Hourigan said.

“No,” the woman replied.

The trial continues before Ms Justice Biggs and the jury.