A Cork man accused of having carnal knowledge of a 13-year-old girl walked free from Dublin Circuit Criminal Court when the case was struck out because there was no court available.
Judge Frank O'Donnell told the 23-year-old defendant he was free to go and said it was "a disgrace" and "an appalling situation".
The judge was told by Ms Pauline Walley, prosecuting, that the courtroom adapted to allow children to give evidence by video-link was being used for another trial. She said the jury had already been sworn in for the case but there was no courtroom available to hear it.
Judge O'Donnell said the trial of a Dublin man accused of sexual assault had also to be abandoned the day before because the videolink court was not available. The jury had to be discharged and a new trial date set in that case.
He said there were young people involved in these cases and the trauma of giving video-link evidence was inestimable.
He added that he had been told on numerous occasions the trauma of giving evidence was worse for children than an incident of sexual abuse itself. Ms Walley said she was also appalled by the situation. She said the alleged victim in the Cork case was now 15 and was among one of nine prosecution witnesses who had travelled from Cork to give evidence. Judge O'Donnell said the situation wasn't Ms Walley's fault but said there must be someone responsible for ensuring that the video-link courtroom was available when there was a case listed to be heard there.
Defence counsel Ms Elizabeth O'Connell said the situation was not good enough and added there was no reason why the parties in the case should be placed in such a situation. The former fairground worker was alleged to have had carnal knowledge of the girl in a field near her home in August 1997.
Judge O'Donnell noted that the alleged victim had failed to turn up on a previous occasion and he could only assume it was because of the trauma involved in giving evidence. Striking out the case, he said the defendant had travelled up from Cork on at least two occasions, and the case was not going on because of circumstances beyond his control.
The director of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ms Olive Braiden, has described as "absolutely horrendous" the fact that charges of unlawful carnal knowledge of a young girl were struck out because no video link-up court was available.
A legal source described yesterday's ruling by the judge as "radical", saying he expected the DPP would seek a judicial review of the ruling in the High Court and that a new trial date would be set. Ms Braiden said she was not sure what would happen next but said it was "horrendous that a trial of such importance and sensitivity would not go ahead on such a technicality.
"It is appalling to think that this young girl was prepared to give evidence, was so courageous and was looking forward to the trial being over. Everything was ready to go and now the whole thing is hanging over her while the next move is decided. It is not the first time this has happened," she said, adding that an upset such as this would hinder the girl's recovery. "We have been campaigning for this facility to be available. It is appalling that at a time when the funds are available, a case can collapse because facilities are not adequate."