Three consecutive days listed for Groves trial as family hope for progress

Thursday 01 November 2018

The Judge in the trial of the man accused of murdering Sarah Groves has again moved to try and speed up proceedings, by listing hearings over the next three days.

The move was made after civil unrest in Srinagar - all part of ongoing strike action and protests - prevented the court from sitting yesterday, as the accused, Richard de Wit, could not be brought in.

Vic Groves, Sarah Groves' father, said the delay on Mr de Wit's arrival to the court was ironic, because three witnesses had turned up to be heard, which was more than have attended the hearings in one go for some years.

"The judge, sensing that the rate of progress was once again becoming unacceptably slow, has set three further hearing dates for this week – tomorrow (Thursday), Friday and Saturday," he said.

"This would have been an immensely frustrating day if the judge had not decided to list the case on each of the next three days."

Srinagar's court sits once a month on Saturday, and that special day is now being used for this trial. 

Despite years of moving at a snail's pace, things have started to pick up in the last few months as the trial has finally started to move forwards. This happened after a great deal of pressure from media in Guernsey and overseas, and international governments. 

There will be more to come as the next three days of hearings unravel.. 

Pictured: Richard de Witt and Sarah Groves.