For the third time this year, the District Court jury trial of two Christchurch men accused of stupefying a pair of 16-year-old schoolgirls for unlawful sexual intercourse has been aborted.
Joshua James Herrick, 23, and Kyle James Henderson, 20, each face joint charges of stupefication and rape, while Herrick faces two charges of indecent assault.
They were to be tried by jury in the Greymouth District Court this week but this morning Judge Brian Callaghan aborted the trial before the first witness was called. He suppressed his reasons for doing so.
The offences were allegedly committed in Christchurch three years ago, when Herrick was 20 and Henderson 17, and the two complainants were 16.
The first trial, in Christchurch, was interrupted by the February 22 earthquake, and a second attempt to try the men at Timaru was abandoned due to the sudden death of a relative of a key witness.
