Everything comes together for nothing in Groves trial

Friday 14 June 2019

The second hearing of this week in the trial of the man accused of murdering Sarah Groves also came to nothing, after none of the witnesses came to court.

After weeks of delays because of the replacement of the Judge and the Prosecution, yesterday all of the pieces the court needed finally came together. But it was for nothing, as the witness set to be cross examined did not turn up.

This was the 159th hearing in the trial of Richard de Wit, who is accused of murdering Ms Groves more than six years ago.

Pictured: Sarah Groves. 

Vic Groves, Sarah's father, said: "The non-appearance of witnesses is the most frustrating cause of delay although the whereabouts of the elusive taxi driver have been established.  Unfortunately, he has not been summoned for the next hearing.

"It is too early to form a view on whether the new judge will successfully address the shortcomings of this case.  One area he needs to improve is the ability to get witnesses into court as and when summoned.

"In our letter to him we have strongly urged him to consider recalling the five members of the boatowner’s family who first gave evidence in 2013, 2014 and 2015.  In each case there were misrepresentations of the truth, inconsistencies between their various accounts of events and a woeful level of cross-examination by Richard de Wit’s lawyer at the time – Shilpi Jain."

The first trial of the week, which was scheduled for Wednesday, didn't take place because the government announced its plan to replace all of the prosecutors. 

The next hearing is due to take place on Saturday 29 June. 

Pictured top: Richard de Wit appeared in court.