preying upon a 12-year-old girl.

Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux claimed Magistrate Edward King had got "mixed up''. Now the 17-year-old from Pembroke, who cannot be named for legal reasons, will have his case sent back to Magistrates' Court.

The youth, represented in court by his mother, had been cleared of "intruding on the privacy'' of two 12-year-old girls last year.

Magistrate Mr. King ruled there was insufficient evidence and no case to answer after the alleged incident in February 1997. But last week Crown Counsel Peter Eccles appealed against the ruling, saying Mr. King had "erred in law'' and claiming there was enough evidence for a jury to consider. Mr.

Justice Meerabux threw out one of the charges against the accused because of a legal technicality, saying the indictment had been written incorrectly.

But he ordered the defendant back before magistrates for a fresh hearing on a charge that he invaded the privacy of one of the girls.

The court was told that the 17-year-old and his half brother had gone into a house uninvited on Old House Lane, Pembroke and began harassing the girls. The judge said: "The learned magistrate got mixed up on what constitutes intrusion and privacy. There is prima facie evidence and I accordingly allow the appeal.''