April
23, 2012
Court hearing adjourned after wrong
interpreter is booked
TWO shopkeepers who had 22,000 fake and
illegal cigarettes seized from their grocery store had a wasted journey to
court because the wrong interpreter turned up.
Soran Talibani, 33, and Sako Fatahi, 32, of
Gloucester Groceries, Station Road, pleaded guilty to 42 charges of supplying
illegal tobacco.
They were due to be sentenced at Cheltenham
Magistrates' Court on Thursday but the case had to be adjourned.
Talibani required a Kurdish Sorani
interpreter but the court apologised after a Somoli interpreter was wrongly
booked.
"It is a mistake that should have been
avoided," said bench chairman Andrew Tabor.
Jane Gadsen, prosecuting for
Gloucestershire County Council Trading Standards, said she was disappointed,
having e-mailed the court service, asking for a Kurdish Sorani interpreter on
March 23.
Talibani owned the shop until September
2011 when responsibility was transferred to Fatahi. Talibani pleaded guilty to
25 charges, while Fatahi pleaded guilty to 17 at a hearing in March.
Sentencing was adjourned until May 8.
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