Sexual assault trial halted on second day

A trial involving two teenagers accused of offences linked to an alleged sexual assault at a shopping centre in Belfast has been halted.

The hearing at Belfast Crown Court commenced earlier this week, but the jury was discharged by the trial judge after it emerged there was a possibility of ‘more potential material’ regarding CCTV.

The two defendants were charged with offences against a 25-year-old woman, with the Crown’s case that she was sexually assaulted in the Victoria Square shopping centre in the early hours of September 28 last year.

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One of the teenagers was charged with two charges of oral rape, two charges of attempted oral rape and seven counts of indecent assault, while his co-accused was charged with aiding and abetting him.

The pair denied all charges levelled against them.

On day two of the hearing, Judge Neil Rafferty QC addressed the jury and said: “It is with the deepest of regret that I am going to have to discharge this jury.”