Judge throws out teacher abuse case

A judge has abruptly ended the trial of a teacher facing charges of sexually abusing a young girl.

The Wellington teacher, whose name is suppressed, had been on trial all week in the city's district court on two counts of rape, one count of indecent assault and two counts of assault, all stemming from incidents alleged to have taken place in 1996.

But after meeting with lawyers yesterday, the judge today withdrew the case from the jury.

He said it was impossible for the jury to convict the man and if they had convicted it would have been wrong and a miscarriage of justice.

The complainant, now a secondary school pupil in Wellington, had testified she had been assaulted in a school corridor and at the teacher's house.

The teacher said the incidents had not happened and his former school principal testified the man was a good and popular teacher.

- NZPA