10 Oct 2016
Leazes Park sex assault trial: Jury told of
'second major' error from translators
A jury has been shown
two “major” errors in interpreting the police interview of one of three Syrians
accused of sex assaults on two 14-year-old schoolgirls in a park.
Jurors have been told
to ignore the original transcript of the 20-year-old Mohammed Alfrouh’s
interview with detectives, and were read a re-translated version of what the
Arabic-speaker said.
The married defendant
denies three counts of sexual assault said to have been committed at Leazes
Park, Newcastle, on two schoolgirls in May.
Co-accused
18-year-olds Omar Badreddin and Mohammed Allakkoud deny a single charge of
sexual assault.
Judge Edward
Bindloss, sitting at Newcastle Crown Court, said there were two important
errors in the translation provided by an interpreter who was present at the
police interview.
Alfrouh told police
he saw Badreddin kissing one of the complainants behind a pavilion in the park.
It was wrongly
translated that he saw Badreddin touching her private parts, when the correct
interpretation was that he saw his hand was inside her leggings, the court
heard.
Alfrouh went on to
tell detectives “the Devil” encouraged him to approach them, adding:
“Basically, I wanted to kiss her.”
But he said his
conscience stopped him, and he told police he did not touch the girl.
Judge Bindloss said
this was the “second major error” in the translation, as the interpreter in the
police station translated his words as “I was trying to kiss her” instead of
the correct version, “I wanted to kiss her”.
Alfrouh went on to
tell police he had been in this country for six months and that he had a good
reputation with “no wrong doings” in Syria.
He knew Allakkoud
from his home town and had seen Badreddin once before the park incidents as
someone from the Syrian community, he told police.
Judge Bindloss told
jurors the errors made in translation were not the fault of the Crown, the
defence or the police.
If officers need an
interpreter for an interview, they have to call a firm which provides them with
one, the judge said.
The trial continues.
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