A SENIOR judge has halted criminal proceedings against a Jesuit priest accused of molesting three boys in the 1970s.

Eighty-year-old Fr Joseph Dooley had been charged with indecently assaulting three pupils while on the teaching staff of Stonyhurst College. Yesterday Judge Peter Openshaw QC granted a defence request for the case to be stopped, agreeing that a fair trial was impossible in the circumstances.

Fr Dooley, from London, had faced three charges of indecency, which had alleged touching over clothing. During legal submissions, Preston Crown Court heard that the defendant, who was on the Stonyhurst staff for many years, had no memory or recollection of his accusers and no complaint was made for 25 years. In addition, the evidence of the complainants was unsupported by any other evidence and there were no surviving records of their time at the school. There was no material available that would allow the three people's evidence to be properly tested in cross examination. Judge Openshaw said: "In my judgement, the safeguards of the trial process itself are inadequate. I am entirely satisfied that a fair trial is now impossible, it is just all far too long ago." He added: "I make absolutely no criticism of the complainants themselves, or of their evidence, nor of this investigation by the police, which has been painstaking, nor of these proceedings, which were inevitable once the complaints had been made. Furthermore, the pros- ecution was entitled to put the matter before the court for adjudication."

After the hearing, Fr Michael Smith, a spokesman for the Jesuits, said the outcome did not lessen their concerns for those who complained of abuse having the right to have their complaint dealt with thoroughly, and that all children in their care should be safe from any form of exploitation or abuse. "These allegations referred to more than 25 years ago. Fr Dooley strenuously denied them."