http://m.u.tv/News/12-hour-rape-ordeal-trial-aborted/cf651070-5748-4aee-a9ab-0177ef6040a7
14
Jan 2014
'12-hour rape
ordeal' trial aborted
The trial of
two men over allegations that a Lithuanian woman was held for 12 hours and
repeatedly raped has been aborted over concerns that evidence had not been
properly translated
The
interpretation of the victim's evidence was said to be "inaccurate,
incomplete and unreliable", Craigavon Crown Court heard on Tuesday.
Lithuanian
national Darius Porcikas, 24 and from Upper Edward Street in Newry, had been
facing 14 charges - including five of rape, two of sexual assault and two of
false imprisonment - in relation to the woman's alleged ordeal in Lurgan.
His
co-accused and fellow Lithuanian Vytautas Mikulinas, 23 and from Birch Hill
Park in Portadown, had been accused of a single charge of causing actual bodily
harm to the woman's ex-partner.
The
alleged offences were said to have happened in July 2011.
But
a day after the jury heard details of the case, they were discharged by Judge
Patrick Lynch QC.
He
told them that the unreliable interpretation meant they would be deciding guilt
or innocence on the basis of unreliable evidence.
A prosecution QC told the judge that other
interpreters had drawn their misgivings to the court about the standard of
translation of the victim's evidence.
He added that further investigations had
revealed that the original interpreter was not on the national register.
It had been the Crown case that Porcikas
and a third man not before the court had beaten the victim's ex-boyfriend into
unconsciousness before launching the alleged sex attack, and also continuing to
beat the man while he lay defenceless.
The alleged victim had been due to continue
her account on Tuesday, but has been unable to do so.
Discharging the jury, Judge Lynch thanked
them for their attendance and also thanked the interpreters for their
intervention.
He added that it may have "contributed
to ensuring that an injustice was not caused".
