Jury acquits man of teen sex abuse charges

Wednesday 27 February 2019

A jury has found a 42-year-old man ‘not guilty’ of sexually abusing two teenage boys following a three-day trial in the Royal Court.

Lee Albert Phoenix (42) has been acquitted of all charges brought against him following allegations from two men who claimed he touched them “inappropriately” as teenagers.

The jury of four women and eight men were only unanimous on two of the five counts where they returned a verdict of ‘not guilty’. A verdict on the remaining three counts was decided through a ballot of the jury, with the majority of jurors finding Mr Phoenix ‘not guilty’.

The jury retired for over three hours to consider their decision. 

Mr Phoenix has always denied the allegations made against him by the two men, who took to the stand to speak about the abuse they said they suffered.

Pictured: Two men accused Lee Albert Phoenix of sexually abusing them as teenagers, but a jury has now acquitted him of all charges.

Crown Advocate Julian Gollop appeared for the prosecution. 

Throughout the trial, Advocate Mark Boothman, appearing for the defence, challenged the “integrity” of the two complainants, suggesting that they were fabricating the allegations for monetary gain.

The Bailiff Sir William Bailhache, presiding, informed Mr Phoenix of his being acquitted before dismissing him from the Court.