The jury in the case of a 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a woman who was stabbed in the neck on her way home from work last year has failed to agree on a verdict.
The boy who cannot be named because of his age, pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of 49-year-old Uransetseg Tserendorj on 29 January 2021.
He pleaded guilty to attempting to rob her and to producing a knife.
She died in hospital nine days after being stabbed on the night of 20 January 2021 near the CHQ building on the north side of the city centre.
The jury were told they had to decide what the boy's state of mind was on the night and whether or not he intended to kill or cause serious injury to Ms Tserendorj.
Lawyers for the defence told the jurors the boy's intention on the night was to rob Ms Tserendorj, not to kill her or cause serious injury. They argued the appropriate verdict was not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Prosecution lawyers said it was the boy's own decision to produce a knife and use it in the robbery. This could only have resulted in serious injury and the only logical conclusion on a cold analysis of the evidence was a verdict of guilty of murder.
The jurors were deliberating for just over eight hours and were told this morning they could bring in a majority verdict on which at least ten of them agreed.
The foreperson told Judge Mary Ellen Ring that after deliberations and multiple reviews of the evidence they couldn't come to a decision on murder or manslaughter on which at least ten of them agreed.
The case will be back before the court on 25 April when it will become clear if, or when, there will be a retrial.
