The trial of two companies over the Meath school bus crash has collapsed after it emerged one of the jurors had allegedly attended the funeral of one of the five schoolgirls killed.
The juror had denied he attended any funeral when asked by the Judge last week and after the jury was discharged today he repeated his denial to the press.
Before discharging the jury at Trim Circuit Criminal Court this morning Judge Tom Teehan heard evidence from the employer of the juror in question.
In reply to the Judge his employer said he recalled getting a phone call "requesting time off to go to the funerals in question." He was not sure which funeral but believed "it was someone involved in the bus crash".
When his employer heard last week that he was on the jury for the trial in question, "my first reaction was how the hell could he be when he was at the funeral".
The five schoolgirls died on May 23rd, 2005, when the bus went out of control and overturned on the Kentstown road out of Navan as it did a school run.
Keltank Ltd of Balbriggan, Co Dublin, which had a contract to service the bus for Bus Éireann, and McArdle's Test Centre in Dundalk, Co Louth, which tested it for the Department of the Environment, faced charges brought under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act.