A jury delivered five acquittal verdicts in the trial of two Indian chefs on sex charges but a retrial has been ordered because the jury could not agree on the remaining nine verdicts at the end of the two-week trial.
It is the second time the two menhave been put on trial for the sexual assault allegations. After the first trial in mid-2006, the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial for technical reasons.
Christchurch District Court trial Judge Graeme Noble has remanded the men in custody to December 18 to a pre-trial conference to set a date for a third trial.
He thanked the jury of 11 for their care and attention to a difficult case. When they delivered their five acquittal verdicts, he told them: "If it were down to me, I would have come to the same conclusion in respect of these counts."
The two chefs at the Two Fat Indians restaurant in central Christchurch, Kirti Ram, 41, and Manish Kumar Tyagi, 31, denied the sexual attack on the 17-year-old schoolgirl alleged by the Crown. They said it was a sex-for-money deal gone wrong but the Crown said the girl had been crying and distressed and had received injuries.
Judge Noble told the jury he had heard submissions from counsel on whether to take the five unanimous verdicts, and he had decided to do that.
The jury then found both men not guilty of indecent assault in touching or sucking the girl's breasts, and a charge involving oral sex. Mr Ram was acquitted on a charge of digital penetration.
The jury could not agree on further charges of sexual violation and attempted sexual violation.
