Trial of social worker accused of sex abuse is halted
The trial of a social worker charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy at a children's home in the late 1980s has been halted.
Judge David Hale discharged the jury from returning a verdict in the case of David Challinor and said that the state of the identification evidence meant it was not safe for the trial to proceed.
He agreed to a defence submission that there was no case to answer.
It was the second piece of drama in the case at Mold Crown Court yesterday – earlier the judge had to discharge a jury member because of what she wrote on Facebook.
The judge adjourned the case until this morning for the prosecution to decide whether it wished to appeal against his decision to the Court of Appeal.
Challinor, 54, of Pinfold Lane, Northop Hall, near Mold, denied a charge of indecently assaulting the boy aged 15 – now in his 40s – at the Bryn Alyn Home near Wrexham.
