Romanian Ioan Timofte has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in a trial which could cost the taxpayer £10,000 . A jury trial to find out whether a Romanian put his hand on a Polish woman’s bare leg will cost at least £10,000. A judge yesterday questioned whether such an outlay is needed over an apparently drunken incident outside a nightclub. Lasting three to four days, the trial will require both a Romanian interpreter for the defendant and at least one Polish interpreter for the victim and witnesses. If it does last four days, it will cost at least £8,600, according to Ministry of Justice figures. With interpreters costing £615 each – plus their expenses – the trial could result in a five-figure bill for taxpayers. Ioan Timofte, 25, has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, last April, two months after he moved from Romania to the UK. The carpenter and joiner, who is believed to work for Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, has also denied assaulting the woman’s fiance. Judge Jamie Tabor QC asked prosecutor Kannan Siva if it was correct that the allegation is that Timofte drunkenly touched the woman’s pelvis area over her clothing. Mr Siva said: ‘It was her bare leg and an attempt was made to touch between her legs. She was wearing a short skirt.’ The judge then told Gloucester Crown Court: ‘So we are having a three to four day trial to determine whether or not this defendant touched a lady’s leg when he was drunk outside a nightclub?’ He questioned why Timofte, who says he is in a relationship on his Facebook profile, had not been offered a police caution, as would usually happen in such cases. Administered by police, a caution is an alternative to prosecution used to resolve minor cases where a full – and costly – prosecution is not deemed necessary. Mr Siva said the decision to proceed with the charges against Timofte was partly because there was an independent witness, a security guard, who claims to have seen the sexual assault in Gloucester. Jonathan Isaby of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘The judge’s word is final, but taxpayers will wonder whether this case could have avoided court. ‘There’s an argument that the police should make better use of the caution in situations where it is merited so that taxpayers aren’t on the hook for unnecessary court cases. ‘Right across the justice system, the wheels must move a little quicker.’ The cost to the taxpayer of hiring court interpreters has almost doubled to £15.5million in just one year, according to official figures released last year. The bill for translators brought in to assist non-English speakers appearing at magistrates or Crown courts for criminal cases soared from £7.9million in 2012. The three to four-day trial at Gloucester Crown Court could will involve paying interpreters £615 each, plus expensses, according to Ministry of Justice figures . The figures, uncovered in Freedom of Information responses from the Ministry of Justice, appear to show the rise occurred since services were outsourced to under-fire firm Capita Translation and Interpreting. They were revealed after the handling of court foreign language services to just one company was branded ‘shambolic’ by MPs amid concerns the change had caused trials to collapse or be delayed. Farcical episodes that have emerged since privatisation include the case of a man who was charged with perverting the course of justice was instead accused of being a ‘pervert’. And in a burglary case at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London, a retrial was ordered when it emerged that the Romanian interpreter had muddled the words ‘beaten’ and ‘bitten’. Earlier this month it was revealed that taxpayers are spending at total of £100million every year on interpreters to help immigrants who cannot speak English. Police, town halls, hospitals and courts are all spending huge sums on translating documents and providing professional interpreters to assist people with poor English. The most common nationalities to require interpreters in Britain are Polish, Lithuanian and Romanian. Timofte has been bailed and will appear at Gloucester Crown Court for trial on June 22. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
Four-day trial will need one Romanian and at least one Polish interpreter .
Each interpreter costs £615 plus expenses, according to Ministry of Justice .
Ioan Timofte, 25, pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in April .
Judge asked why Timofte had not been offered a police caution, as usual .
Romanian Ioan Timofte has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in a trial which could cost the taxpayer £10,000 . A jury trial to find out whether a Romanian put his hand on a Polish woman’s bare leg will cost at least £10,000. A judge yesterday questioned whether such an outlay is needed over an apparently drunken incident outside a nightclub. Lasting three to four days, the trial will require both a Romanian interpreter for the defendant and at least one Polish interpreter for the victim and witnesses. If it does last four days, it will cost at least £8,600, according to Ministry of Justice figures. With interpreters costing £615 each – plus their expenses – the trial could result in a five-figure bill for taxpayers. Ioan Timofte, 25, has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, last April, two months after he moved from Romania to the UK. The carpenter and joiner, who is believed to work for Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, has also denied assaulting the woman’s fiance. Judge Jamie Tabor QC asked prosecutor Kannan Siva if it was correct that the allegation is that Timofte drunkenly touched the woman’s pelvis area over her clothing. Mr Siva said: ‘It was her bare leg and an attempt was made to touch between her legs. She was wearing a short skirt.’ The judge then told Gloucester Crown Court: ‘So we are having a three to four day trial to determine whether or not this defendant touched a lady’s leg when he was drunk outside a nightclub?’ He questioned why Timofte, who says he is in a relationship on his Facebook profile, had not been offered a police caution, as would usually happen in such cases. Administered by police, a caution is an alternative to prosecution used to resolve minor cases where a full – and costly – prosecution is not deemed necessary. Mr Siva said the decision to proceed with the charges against Timofte was partly because there was an independent witness, a security guard, who claims to have seen the sexual assault in Gloucester. Jonathan Isaby of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: ‘The judge’s word is final, but taxpayers will wonder whether this case could have avoided court. ‘There’s an argument that the police should make better use of the caution in situations where it is merited so that taxpayers aren’t on the hook for unnecessary court cases. ‘Right across the justice system, the wheels must move a little quicker.’ The cost to the taxpayer of hiring court interpreters has almost doubled to £15.5million in just one year, according to official figures released last year. The bill for translators brought in to assist non-English speakers appearing at magistrates or Crown courts for criminal cases soared from £7.9million in 2012. The three to four-day trial at Gloucester Crown Court could will involve paying interpreters £615 each, plus expensses, according to Ministry of Justice figures . The figures, uncovered in Freedom of Information responses from the Ministry of Justice, appear to show the rise occurred since services were outsourced to under-fire firm Capita Translation and Interpreting. They were revealed after the handling of court foreign language services to just one company was branded ‘shambolic’ by MPs amid concerns the change had caused trials to collapse or be delayed. Farcical episodes that have emerged since privatisation include the case of a man who was charged with perverting the course of justice was instead accused of being a ‘pervert’. And in a burglary case at Snaresbrook Crown Court in east London, a retrial was ordered when it emerged that the Romanian interpreter had muddled the words ‘beaten’ and ‘bitten’. Earlier this month it was revealed that taxpayers are spending at total of £100million every year on interpreters to help immigrants who cannot speak English. Police, town halls, hospitals and courts are all spending huge sums on translating documents and providing professional interpreters to assist people with poor English. The most common nationalities to require interpreters in Britain are Polish, Lithuanian and Romanian. Timofte has been bailed and will appear at Gloucester Crown Court for trial on June 22. Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.
Romanian Ioan Timofte has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a woman in a trial which least one Polish interpreter for the victim and cost at least £8,600, according to Ministry of Timofte, 25, has pleaded not guilty to sexually had not been offered a police caution, as would