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The case at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court was adjourned until September as an interpreter was not available for the hearing.
But some of the sharpest rises have been for languages spoken by the nationalities who make up the majority of asylum seekers arriving in Britain on small boats
Lokman, who faces an additional allegation of attempting to burgle a home in Enfield, north London, in March, was due to stand trial on Thursday, having previously denied all the charges.
But his case had to be adjourned until July 6 when it was discovered that a Kurdish interpreter had not been booked for the trial, and efforts by court staff to scour London for an available interpreter to come to court at the last minute failed.
District Judge Annabel Pilling conveyed the news of the adjournment to Lokman by typing out an apology and explanation on her tablet, running the message through Google Translate, and showing him the screen.
The shocking waste of public money on failed court hearings has been exposed after three interpreters attended a hearing where four members of an alleged Romanian shoplifting gang failed to turn up.
