By Eimear Dodd
An Irish celebrity accused of engaging in sexual acts with a 16-year-old girl over a decade ago has been acquitted following a trial at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The man (40), who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded not guilty to three counts of engaging in sexual acts with a child under the age of 17 at locations in Dublin on dates between August and December 2010.
He was aged 27 at the time.
After deliberating for over five and half hours, the jury returned majority verdicts of not guilty on all counts today.
Earlier today, the jury gave a note to Judge Pauline Codd after after more than five hours of deliberations, indicating that they could not reach a unanimous decision.
The judge told jurors the court would accept a majority verdict on which at least 10 of them were agreed, then invited them to continue their deliberations.