29 November 2015
Jordan
Thomas murder: Case against defendant’s mother collapsed over lack of
interpreter during interview
The case against the mother of one of the men accused of murdering Jordan
Thomas collapsed due to police not having a proper interpreter present when
they first interviewed her.
Tazeem Bi, the mother of Asif Yousaf, was charged
with perverting the course of justice on the grounds that she was alleged to have
claimed her son was at home with her on the night of the murder.
But it can now be reported that judge Mr Justice
Green ruled that a key piece of prosecution evidence - a police note of an
interview with Ms Bi the day after her son was arrested - was inadmissible and
could not be disclosed to the jury.
He made the ruling as Ms Bi, who was born in
Pakistan and speaks limited English, did not have an interpreter present during
the interview with a detective constable.
Her daughter acted as a translator on that
occasion.
But when Ms Bi gave a subsequent interview to
police with a qualified translator present, she indicated she was not certain
about the events of the evening.
Mr Justice Green said a translator was ‘essential’
to ensuring the nuances of a person’s answers were accurately recorded.
He said there were risks that allowing the evidence
would create an ‘unfair’ impression, as there was a ‘real question mark’ over
the accuracy of the evidence.
The ruling resulted in the prosecution deciding to
drop their case against Ms Bi and she was found not guilty midway through the
trial.
