Public order case thrown in doubt over lack of interpreter

https://www.irishnews.com/news/northern-ireland/public-order-case-thrown-in-doubt-over-lack-of-interpreter-3JPN26FLXZEM5N26IHKY3TADLE/

25 March 2024

Public order case thrown in doubt over lack of interpreter

A case involving two men charged with public order offences including assaults has been thrown in doubt due to a lack of an appropriate interpreter.

Nivio Da Silva (22) from Scotch Street and Tome Pereira Moniz (36) from Brooke Street both in Dungannon are jointly charged with assaulting a male and using disorderly behaviour.

Da Silva is further accused of assaulting a female in the same incident which allegedly occurred at Northland Row on December 18 2022.

Defence barristers for the accused previously entered not guilty pleas to all charges at Dungannon Magistrates Court and the case was adjourned to allocate a date for hearing as a contest.

However, this is proving problematic as both accused are from East Timor and speak the Tetum language, which is one of two languages spoken, the other being Portuguese.

At the most recent court sitting a contest date again could not be fixed as the single Tetum interpreter cannot be available for the case, which in order to protect the legal rights of the accused, cannot proceed without translation.

A prosecuting lawyer advised “there are difficulties securing an interpreter” as there is only one working in Northern Ireland and he has expressed a conflict of interest and “will never be available”.

Deputy District Judge Sean O’Hara remarked: “Someone is going to have to come up with a more inventive solution such as getting someone to come from the south of Ireland or England.”

He was informed the agency which provides interpreters for court: “Are having difficulty in even sourcing one from England and don’t contract from the south.”

Judge O’Hare said: “This is against the backdrop of the defendants being unable to have a fair trial and follow proceedings. The PPS are going to have to look at this to find out the best way forward and if that is unresolved there will need to be legal argument on a stay of proceedings.”

He adjourned the case until April 3 with instructions for the PPS directing officer to review how they intend to proceed.

https://armaghi.com/news/dungannon-news/public-order-case-thrown-in-doubt-over-lack-of-east-timorese-interpreter/238572

Northern Ireland: "availability of an interpreter"

http://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2017/09/26/news/vietnamese-man-charged-in-connection-with-400k-cannabis-seizure-in-co-tyrone-1146163/ 
26 September 2017

A Vietnamese man was remanded in custody today on charges connected to a £400,000 cannabis seizure in Co Tyrone.

Police found the drugs during searches carried out in the Coalisland area on Monday.

Hung Van Nguyen was brought to Belfast to appear before the city's Magistrates Court due to the availability of an interpreter. […]

Northern Ireland: "no Albanian interpreter was available"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-39182653 
6 March 2017

[…] The two men did not speak English and one of the defendants had to translate the court proceedings as no Albanian interpreter was available. […]

Northern Ireland: Police officer's failure to get interpreter 'completely compromised' probe into woman who needed skin graft after being struck by car

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/police-officers-failure-to-get-interpreter-completely-compromised-probe-into-woman-who-needed-skin-graft-after-being-struck-by-car-35045585.html 
13/09/2016

Police officer's failure to get interpreter 'completely compromised' probe into woman who needed skin graft after being struck by car

The investigation was into a complaint from the woman, a foreign national, who spent 10 days in hospital after being struck by a car in east Belfast in January 2015.

She later lodged a complaint with the Police Ombudsman’s Office stating that she had not been offered an interpreter and had difficulty understanding the officer when he came to obtain her account after her release from hospital.

She alleged that the officer’s subsequent report on the incident was based almost entirely on the driver’s account - that he had been travelling within the speed limit when the woman stepped off the footpath “out of nowhere”.

The woman claimed the officer had not taken a formal statement from her.

When interviewed, the officer said he had given the woman “a fair opportunity” to provide her account of the incident.

He said he had no difficulty communicating with her in English, but she had only a vague recollection of what had happened and had not indicated that the driver had committed any offences.

He added that there had been no witnesses at the scene and no further enquiries were conducted because of the lack of evidence.

He accepted, when it was put to him, that he should have carried out house-to-house enquiries.

But he maintained there had been no need for further enquiries when the woman’s solicitor raised concerns about the investigation.

The solicitor wrote to the officer several times in the months following the incident explaining the communication difficulties and that the woman had since provided an account which contradicted the driver’s.

The officer said he did not reopen the case or take a statement from the woman because he did not believe the driver had committed an offence, or that the woman’s account would be enough to secure a prosecution.

However, the Police Ombudsman investigator noted that the officer’s role should have been to “gather evidence, regardless of how strong he believes it to be, and let the Public Prosecution Service make decisions about prosecution".

He concluded: “It appears the officer decided at the scene that the driver had not committed any offences and then ignored the woman’s evidence, provided via her solicitor, which opposed his view.“

“In doing so he failed to fully investigate this incident.”

He recommended that the officer be disciplined and the PSNI has since implemented the recommendation.

The investigator also pointed out that he and the woman’s solicitor had found it helpful to use an interpreter when communicating with the woman and said the officer should have done likewise.

http://www.itv.com/news/utv/2016-09-13/investigation-compromised-by-lack-of-interpreter/