July 14, 2017
Romanian man accused of
attempted rape has case adjourned - because there is no interpreter
A judge has criticised
police who failed to find an interpreter so a Romanian man could follow a court
case where he is accused of attempted rape.
Mihai Vasille Ciprian, 25,
was brought to the cells at Nottingham Magistrates' Court but language
difficulties meant he would not have been able to follow his hearing.
His defence solicitor Jenny
Gerrard was unable to interview him in preparation for a hearing, which would
have decided whether he should be freed on bail.
The lack of an interpreter
also affected another Romanian, a lorry driver charged with breach of
tachograph laws.
He was also held in custody
with defence solicitor Tim Holder unable to speak to him.
District Judge Leo Pyle was
forced to adjourn both cases until Monday without pair appearing before him.
He told the court:
"Police are responsible for providing interpreters at first hearings for
people who don't understand the language.
"This is perhaps even
more important when you have very serious allegations like attempted rape and
offences of dishonest use of tachographs.
"I adjourn the case
until Monday morning on the basis of insufficient evidence and no
interpreter."
Sanjay Jerath, for the
Crown Prosecution Service, agreed to pass on the judge's concerns.
Earlier in the day, police
released a statement to say Ciprian had been detained after an incident
involving a 22-year-old woman near The Arboretum early on Saturday.
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