Ulster trial

Jackson tries to recoup €115k in legal costs

IRELAND and Ulster rugby player Paddy Jackson is seeking to recover legal costs from his recent rape trial, which amounted to more than €115,000.

An application to cover Mr Jackson’s legal fees is due to be heard in Belfast Crown Court next month.

Mr Jackson (26) was acquitted of rape and sexual assault last month following a mammoth nine-week trial.

Mr Jackson’s Ireland and Ulster teammate Stuart Olding

(25) was also acquitted of raping the same woman.

Two other co-defendants were also acquitted on charges they faced arising from an incident in Mr Jackson’s south Belfast home in June 2016.

It is understood that Mr Jackson (inset, top) privately funded his defence and his legal bill amounted to more than

£100,000 (€115,000), which he has already settled.

However, he is seeking to retrieve this money and has made an application in an attempt to have these costs covered by the Public Prosecution Service. A hearing in a bid to cover the legal costs has been scheduled to take place in Belfast at 2pm on Friday, May 18.

Co-accused Mr Olding (inset, bottom) had been covering his own legal costs at the start of the trial.

However, halfway through the trial, his barrister asked that Mr Olding be granted Legal Aid for the remainder of the hearing, as he no longer had sufficient funds to cover the costs.

After she asked to be provided with evidence of this – such as bank statements – Judge Patricia Smyth granted Legal

Aid for Mr Olding.

Earlier this week, the judge lifted reporting restrictions on the trial which prohibited the media reporting on what was heard in the absence of the jury.

It was then revealed that blood on bedsheets, a video of an internal examination of the young woman, and a pornographic clip shared by two of the defendants were among issues raised in the absence of the jury.

Jurors were unaware that there were photographs of additional blood on the sheets of Mr Jackson’s bed, with the rugby player’s barrister saying he had “no intention of saying where this blood came from”.

The prosecution was asked to remove three photographs of Mr Jackson’s bedroom from the evidence.

Separately, Mr Olding’s lawyer, Frank O’Donoghue QC, was successful in arguing an issue regarding forensic evidence and his client Mr Olding.

Samples of Mr Olding’s semen were found by forensic scientists on the crotch area of the woman’s white jeans.

The jury was merely told the semen had been found on the jeans – but not exactly where.