Rabbit enrols as court translator
AN INTERPRETER says she has exposed the ‘ridiculous failings’ of a controversial Ministry of Justice backed agency – after managing to enrol her pet RABBIT as a court translator.
Czech interpreter Marie Adamova says she successfully filled in an online application for carrot-chomping Jajo with the company which supplies linguistics to police and law courts.
Remarkably, the rabbit later received emails from the firm welcoming him aboard as a translator- and he was even invited to an online seminar to learn more about his role.
Interpreter Marie, who is from Erdington, Birmingham, says she pulled the stunt as a protest against Applied Language Solutions (ALS) for allegedly causing “chaos” after taking over translator services for West Midlands Police and the area’s courts.
According to the translator, ALS are not checking the qualifications of people who enrol on their website – meaning interpreters are being sent to court only to find they can barely translate a few sentences.
The 46-year-old, who has worked as a court interpreter for five years, said: “It’s ridiculous.
“I wasn’t surprised he was accepted because I knew they were not going to check anything.
“It’s kind of a joke but there’s a serious point behind it. Anyone can register on this website and they will send an offer for a job no matter who you are.
“They don’t do any checks or see qualifications, it’s a Mickey Mouse office.
“I put Jajo on the site to show the ridiculous failings of this service, it is absolutely crazy.”
The bungling website only removed the rabbit from their website on Thursday – even though Marie successfully filled in Jajo’s application form after registering his name, date of birth and an email address in AUGUST.
And the rabbit later received a welcome email from the company which urged him not to “miss out“ on future Ministry of Justice assignments.
It added: “You are receiving this email as you have been identified as an interpreter.
“If you still wish to gain work under the Framework Agreement, we advise you to return to the website and resume your registration.“
Marie says her ten-month old bunny was sent around 15 emails by ALS, including an invitation to be formally assessed.
All the emails were signed off with the company slogan, “High quality language solutions delivered on time…with a smile!“
And the experienced interpreter says she took the comical step of putting her pet on the website to highlight the fact that ALS are accepting applications from people who simply can’t translate.
“They are not checking at all,” added a furious Marie.
“They take on ex-cleaners and people who have only been in the country for a few weeks.
“People are getting jobs when they aren’t even fluent in English. There was one lady employed as an interpreter why went down to the court and didn’t understand the person so couldn’t do it.
“And there was a chap who allegedly spoke eight languages but he couldn’t even interpret a few sentences.
“I registered Jajo in August and he was on the website till yesterday. He received all the emails and that kind of stuff.
“They are just not checking who they are sending on jobs.”
Reports earlier this month suggested foreign suspects were being allowed to walk free from police custody before questioning because of a shortage of translators from the service.
Officers have been forced to release some arrested foreign suspects on bail because they could not get interpreters for police station interviews.
Last Tuesday, Labour MP Gisela Stuart highlighted the scandal to David Cameron in Parliament.
But an ALS spokeswoman said they could not find Jajo on their system.
She added: “Anyone can register their interest in becoming an interpreter for ALS.
“But they are still required to undergo assessment, security and qualification checks before being accepted as an ALS interpreter to work within the criminal justice system.
“I suspect that Jajo might fail such checks.“