Richard de Wit could be bailed

Wednesday 19 September 2018

Another two day session in the trial of Richard de Wit over the murder of Sarah Groves has come to a very frustrating conclusion, though it could lead to Mr de Wit being considered for bail.

Tuesday marked the 129th court hearing since Miss Groves death, but nothing came of it as a general strike organised by the separatist movement took place. Then yesterday saw no witnesses attend the hearing, again grinding proceedings to a halt.

Miss Groves' father, Vic Groves said this "led to angry scenes in court instigated by the defence counsel and by the judge".

In light of the delays, the defence counsel expressed their view that Richard de Wit was not receiving a fair trial and his right to "a speedy trial" was being breached.  Under such circumstances, he could be entitled to bail. 

"This was the first hint that the defence counsel saw a way out for Richard de Wit – one that would clearly be highly controversial and deeply upsetting if it should happen," Mr Groves said.

Pictured: Vic Groves, with a plant named after Sarah Elizabeth Groves.

"The real anger stemmed from the judge who refused to accept any excuses from the Prosecutor in respect of the lack of witnesses," he said. "It quickly became apparent that there may have been, not only in respect of today’s hearing but also in respect of the many previous hearings when witnesses have failed to attend court, a serious breach of due process in respect of the issue and enforcement of warrants."

As with Guernsey, it is an offence in India to ignore a warrant. In this case, the Senior House Officer (SHO) is charged with the responsibility of physically issuing and enforcing the warrants specified by the judge.

"The Prosecutor could clearly show to the judge in court today that he had complied with the first part of the process and that, in every case, the SHO at Ram Munshi Bagh Police Station had been properly notified.  There were, however, no records available to confirm that the on-going further action required had taken place," Mr Groves added.

"The judge immediately ordered a ‘Show Cause’ notice to the SHO under which he must show the audit trail of each and every request for the issue and serving of warrants.  In other words, he is under investigation for non-compliance and must report back to the court with full details."

The judge also referred once again to the high profile this case has in terms of media coverage, political and diplomatic involvement and monitoring by the High Court.

During the long period of deliberation in court, Richard de Wit took the opportunity to strongly refute the allegations against him, denying that he anything to do with Sarah’s murder.  This is a position he has resolutely taken from the outset of the trial well over five years ago.

Mr Groves concluded: "There is little to add to the above except to say that civil unrest and general strikes are acceptable reasons for delay.  The non-appearance of witnesses is not."

Pictured top: Richard de Wit.