THE jury in the Aya Hachem murder trial have been told of delays which have halted proceedings in the case.

It has been almost a week since any activity involving the jury was able to take place, due to several issues being dealt with by the Judge and both prosecution and defence counsel.

Addressing them, the Honourable Mr Justice Turner explained how one juror had been unable to come into court due to a coronavirus-related issue and explained how other elements of the trial had been ‘bedevilled’ by illness.

He said: “You must be extremely frustrated by what has been going on, or rather not been going on during this trial. I know that you were ready, able and willing at 1030am on Tuesday and I can well believe how irritating it must be for you to arrive at court to be told there is no sitting at the moment - and eventually being told unfortunately there is no work for you to do on that day.

“It is important for me to explain to you, publicly, in broad terms, why this has happened.

“You will have noticed that there are only 11 of you in the jury box. One of the jurors has fallen foul of Covid restrictions. I am able to assure you, if you have not already been assured, that there is no question that juror posed any risk to you at all when you were last together on Friday. You will not have seen them this week.

“I am afraid that illness has bedevilled the progress of the case in a broad sense. It is not the fault of anyone, we really do our best and everyone involved has been straining to try and achieve some progress in this case but I’m afraid that the way things have developed have given us no option.”

Mr Justice Turner said he was hopeful proceedings may be able to continue on Friday, which would be day 14 of the trial.

He added: “I appreciate how infuriating this must be. I am grateful to you for all of the concentration you have given to this case so far but I am going to say that so far as your involvement is concerned, there is no need for you to remain here for the rest of the day.

“I hope we can do some work tomorrow. It is demoralising, I know. Just rest assured that we are doing all we can.”

Eight people stand trial accused of murdering Aya Hachem and attempting to kill another man, Pachah Khan.

For background on the case, click here. 

For daily updates and information go to Twitter - @smclarkey95