Jury fails to reach verdict in Donegal man’s defamation case against the Irish Times

A High Court jury has failed to reach a verdict in a defamation action brought by a Donegal over an article by Sunday Times columnist Brenda Power.
The jury was discharged today after deliberations lasting almost eight hours resulted in no agreement.
The case will be relisted for another hearing before a new High Court jury unless a settlement is reached in the meantime.
46 year old John McCauley a property consultant originally from Donegal but now based in Dubai and Lithuania, had sued over a article in which Ms Power criticised him for taking a midwife to court over the interruption of him filming the birth of his first child.
After a second day of deliberations, the jury said it was unable to reach a unanimous or majority verdict in relation to one of two questions they were asked.  It had reached a verdict on a question of whether the words used in the article were true or false insofar as they allege facts.
The foreman told Mr Justice Eamon de Valera the jury felt that they would not reach a majority decision.
Mr Justice de Valera discharged the jury and said it was the longest time a jury had been out in his experience
He thanked them and excused them from jury service for ten years.