Latest Sarah Groves murder trial hearing a 'shambles'

Vic Groves, Sarah's father, said information obtained from in-court representation described how the people who attended court yesterday were met with a sea of confusion.

The courtroom was not open and the judge was either on holiday, had attended a course at short notice or was ill.

'A different answer was obtained dependent upon who was asked,' said Mr Groves.

'The one person who should have known what was happening – the Public Prosecutor – was initially unable to help in any way.

'At one stage it appeared that the hearing would take place in an adjacent court under a temporary stand-in judge.'

The accused, Richard de Wit, who denies murdering the Guernsey woman on a houseboat in Kashmir in April 2013, had been taken to that building, but no witnesses turned up.

'Cross-examination of the one witness who had been summoned, SI Kuldeep Koul, was expected to be completed at this hearing,' said Mr Groves.

'However, the Public Prosecutor, when later challenged about the shambolic state of affairs, confirmed that he had received a phone from the witness the day before to the effect that he could not attend court due to absence from the area of Srinagar.

'There are clearly many issues here that would simply not be a feature of any other jurisdiction.

'The judge’s intended absence must have been known beforehand.

'With the date set for the hearing many weeks in advance, how come he can simply change his personal arrangements, after all this is a murder trial?

'Why was Richard de Wit present in court and why was there so much confusion? Why had no other witnesses been summoned? This reflects very badly on the Prosecutor, whose duty it is to call witnesses to court.

'Why are witnesses able simply to ‘not turn up in court’? The date for this hearing had been set on December 28, 2017- plenty of time in which to arrange one’s diary.

'Why is this trial constantly and consistently treated with total disdain and lack of respect?

'Upon the assumption that the next hearing takes place, there will have been a gap of eight weeks between hearings. There are still 15 plus witnesses to be heard.'

The next scheduled hearing date is Wednesday 21 February.