Retrial over attempted rape and sex assault charges

A 48-year-old Newtownabbey man is to face a new trial accused of trespassing in a woman's home and subjecting her to a series of sexual assaults, including attempted rape.

Belfast Crown Court had given prosecution lawyers until Tuesday to decide if Stephen Brady from Uppertown Drive in Newtownabbey, should be subject of a retrial.

Prosecutor Simon Jenkins told Judge Patricia Smyth that a date would now have to be fixed for the new jury trial.

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Last Tuesday a jury failed to reach any verdicts on any of the seven charges Brady has always denied.

Brady, who admits being in the woman’s house, claimed he “was shocked” when arrested and charged.

The prosecution claims that in the early hours of December 15, 2014 the woman woke after falling asleep watching television and was confronted by Brady in her living room, who allegedly “subjected her to a number of sexual assaults”.

However, Brady maintained he’d been invited into the house, and that the “sex was consensual”.

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