A jury trial has been halted by illness… for the second time in three days.
On Monday, the case, involving alleged domestic assault and stalking, was adjourned before it was due to get underway at Wick, when Sheriff Andrew Berry announced that both fiscal depute Karen Smith and sheriff clerk, Jan McEwan, had succumbed to the virus and were unable to appear.
The case was continued until yesterday, when both officials were back in action. However Sheriff Berry had to report a third casualty, defence agent Fiona MacDonald.
The next witness was preparing to give his evidence over a video link from Edinburgh Sheriff Court when the sheriff said it was clear that the solicitor was “not fit to continue” and would not be able to “play a full part in the proceedings”.
A further continuation of the case was, he said, necessary “to ensure that the interests of justice will be served”.
Sheriff Berry said hat he had considered at length, various options, one of which was to postpone the trial until Tuesday after the Easter holiday weekend, but even if it was possible to resume the trial then, it would mean that it was the first evidence the jury would have heard for 12 days.
The sheriff told the jury that it would not be in the interests of justice to expect them to “pick up the ball and run with it” after such a gap. He also made the point that, preparing for such in important case and conducting cross examination was a tough task for any defence solicitor, in good health.
Sheriff Berry commented it was the first time he had encountered such “an unusual situation” in his four decades in the law. The trial will resume on August 22nd.
The accused in the case is 68-year-old, Glasgow born, Konstanty Bembnista, who denies on indictment, historic charges of assaulting his former wife, Marie Islam, at their previous home in Lybster, and stalking her and threatening her in Edinburgh. The offences are alleged to have occurred between June 1991 and July 2013.
