Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys yesterday denied an application by beauty queen Carolan Lynch’s attorneys to have her matter discharged after the prosecutor failed to attend court at the required time.
Lynch is charged with the murder of her Swiss House cambio boss husband Farouk Razac. Razac was discovered dead in his Ireng Place, Bel Air home in May.
Though the preliminary inquiry (PI) was set to continue yesterday morning, special prosecutor Hukumchand and witness David Falconer were absent. A few minutes after 10, attorney Mark Waldron said that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is charged with the responsibility of prosecuting his client’s case. He said that she appointed Hukumchand and he asked that her office intervene to address why neither the prosecutor nor the witness was at court. Waldron added that if Hukumchand was not ready to proceed on a fixed date then he would ask that the Magistrate dismiss the case for want of prosecution.
The Magistrate however, said that he would not discharge the case and that if the prosecutor felt that he could flout the judge’s order then there were certain steps that the defence could take. The Magistrate then issued an arrest warrant for the witness stating that both he and the prosecutor ought to have been at court at 9 am. He then adjourned the matter for the afternoon session.
However, about 20 minutes later, Hukumchand arrived. He told the court that he was before the judge and that he understood that the case was set for 10.30 am. The Magistrate told him that the matter was set for the afternoon.
At the adjourned time, the case was called again and Hukumchand apologised to the court. He also said that he had told the witness that the case was set for 10.30 am. Falconer said that he did not hear the Magistrate say that he had to be at court for nine and had followed the prosecutor’s instructions. The Magistrate then told him that he should listen to his instructions about when he has to come to court from then on and he recalled the warrant.
Falconer was then further cross-examined and was excused from the stand after the completion of his testimony.
The PI will continue on Monday when another witness is expected to testify.