The jury in the trial of a former soldier accused of murdering a man outside a Dublin takeaway has been discharged.
It happened after one of the jurors noticed an issue with a piece of evidence during their deliberations.
Not long after beginning a second day of deliberations, the jury foreman passed a note to the judge to bring to her attention that 29 seconds were missing from a compilation of CCTV footage shown during Donal Colgan’s trial.
The 65-year-old, with an address at Killarney Court, Killarney Street in Dublin 1 had denied murdering David Sheridan outside Luigi’s Takeaway on North Strand Road on August 17th 2014.
The foreman described the footage, which was taken from inside the chipper, as “crucial” and it was reviewed by both sides over lunch.
When the jurors returned, Ms. Justice Carmel Stewart told them the defence had applied for them to be discharged. She said the entire trial was played out in the basis that that particular piece was continuous and contained no gaps.
In the interests of ensuring Mr. Colgan received a fair trial, she said she had no option by to send them home.
A new trial date will be fixed next month.
