Unable to arrive at a verdict as to whether he is guilty or not of raping a 12-year-old girl, minibus conductor Dexter McIntosh now faces a retrial for the offence.
He was arraigned on charges of rape of a child under 16 years of age.
The allegation states that on January 1st, 2015 in the county of Demerara, he engaged in sexual penetration of the 12-year-old.
After some two hours of deliberations, the jury forewoman of the 12-member panel informed the court that it was deadlocked and could not arrive at a verdict, not even in a 10 to 2 proportion, which would have represented a majority verdict for the sexual offence.
In the circumstances, trial Judge, Justice Jo-Ann Barlow informed a visibly relieved McIntosh that he would be contacted by the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) as to when a new trial would commence.
The man who has been granted his pretrial liberty was then told that he was free to go.
The accused is represented by attorney Clyde Forde.
The state was represented by Prosecutor Teriq Mohamed.
The trial proceedings were held in-camera at the Sexual Offences Court of the Supreme Court in Demerara.