Preparations for the trial of a former councillor charged with GBH and coercive control have fallen into disarray.

Oliver Donachie pleaded not guilty to wounding or inflicting grievous bodily harm on a woman without intent on February 6. 2023 and engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate relationship.

The 47-year-old, of St Austell Way, was due to face trial on December 11 but this has been delayed by several months after the Crown Prosecution Service failed to find someone to cover the six days that the trial is expected to last.

The original trial date was set at a plea and trial preparation hearing back in April, but the CPS has been unable to book qualified counsel during the months that followed.

At a hearing held at Swindon Crown Court on December 2, Alicia Doble explained why she felt that the trial date should now be vacated and relisted.

The court was told on November 5 that no trial counsel was available and a previous preparation hearing was held on November 26 to see if this problem had been resolved, but to no avail.

She added: “Efforts have been made to find trial counsel when the trial date was listed. I’ve been sending a list from CPS of 20 chambers that have been contacted to see if anyone will be available to prosecute.

“Those contacts have been made regularly and still, unfortunately, no trial counsel is available.

“The trial could have been pushed back one day but [Swindon Crown Court] could not accommodate this.

"Enquiries have been made about whether a silk [the term for a senior prosecutor on the King's Counsel] could prosecute the trial but this is not a silk case.

“No junior counsel will be available. I understand the difficulties of adjourning, but a trial cannot go ahead.”

Mr Donachie’s solicitor, Rachel Darby, was not happy about this significant setback and argued that it may still be possible for the trial to be held next week as the earliest available trial dates after that were as far away as August and November.

She claimed that the CPS had not worked as hard as they had suggested, as she had contacted one of the people who had reportedly been asked to be trial counsel and he told her he had not been asked.

The solicitor also claimed that the prosecutor who had represented the CPS on a temporary basis at a previous hearing in these proceedings was not made aware of any further availability gaps that he could have filled.

She was particularly aggrieved at an email from a lawyer who had suddenly decided that the case should be discontinued entirely – a decision which was then overturned at a higher level.

Ms Darby said: “It’s still capable of being trial-ready. It would require an amount of work but counsel are adept at picking up cases at short notice.

“The prosecution could have brought this to the court’s attention at any point in the case – waiting until November 5 is not acceptable. It is lamentable that this has only been brought to the court’s attention four weeks before trial.

“I asked when [the CPS] contacted counsel. That information has not been forthcoming.”

Ms Darby mentioned that this is the first time she has experienced a prosecution availability issue for a trial, though Judge KC described it as "unfortunate" and “a general problem”.

He agreed to vacate the trial date because, even if a prosecutor was found within the next week, they would not have enough time to properly prepare due to the amount of material involved and the complexities of the case.

Witness availability will be checked before a new trial date is scheduled.

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