Court legal advisor comments on expense to public purse
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.
Two men and two women are accused of stealing thousands of pounds worth of make-up items from a branch of Boots in Norwich.
Juberina Niculae, 62, Florina Mustata, 21, and male co-defendants Nicolaie Caldarar, 38, and Lonely Alexandru, 24, who all have addresses in east London, did not attend a hearing at Norwich Magistrates’ Court.
Magistrates issued warrants for their arrests after being told the alleged theft of 56 items of Born This Way make-up, valued at almost £2,000, on January 28 could result in prison sentences.
Despite all four suspects speaking the same language, three Romanian interpreters were paid by the taxpayer to attend the court hearing.
All three were eventually released by the court without having done any translation, with the court legal advisor stating: “I’m conscious of the expense to the public purse.”
Public spending on court interpreters reached £38.6 million in 2024, about £152,000 a day on average.
