Not guilty verdict communicated via body language
I was monitoring the provision of ALS interpreters in Harrow Crown Court on 10/02/2012. A Romanian defendant in Court 2 in the morning did not have an interpreter at all. Two other defendants (Punjabi and Iraqi Kurdish) found themselves in the same situation as their interpreters did not arrive either.
As for the Romanian defendant, a relative in the public gallery was trying to whisper to him so he could understand when to sit down or to stand up. When the not guilty verdict was announced, the relative was simply communicating with him using body language.
In the case of the Punjabi defendant, a cousin sitting in the public gallery had to explain to him that his case would be adjourned for the third time consecutively due to the lack of a Punjabi interpreter in the last two weeks.
The Judge was extremely furious about the new interpreter booking system via Applied Language Solutions and specifically demanded official court-approved interpreters for the next court dates.