THC4MS Trial, Day Four

Apparently proceedings today started late, at 11am, because Mr Jones the accountant was delayed in travelling up from London by the after effects of the famous Kensal Rise tornado that swept through North London yesterday. In the end, the defence agreed his evidence that Marcus' amalgamated accounts totalled some £39K over two years, which figure included his domestic income.

DC Mark Stevens, the arresting officer, then closed the case for the prosecution by testifying as to the circumstances of the arrest and summarising subsequent interviews. He said that Lezley admitted that she knew what she was doing was against the law, but Mr Ford, for Lezley, got him to admit that she also added that she thought she had a defence (of Medical Necessity). Most important was Stevens' reference to a doctor's letter he'd picked up, more-or-less at random from the THC4MS files, and which was shown to him in court. Mr Ford asked that it should also be shown to the jury, but Mr Grout-Smith, for the Crown objected. He presumably did not wish the jury to read this three line letter because it went further than confirming a client's diagnosis of MS and positively recommended the Cannabiz product. The Judge did not allow the letter to be shown to the jury, who must be wondering why?

Then there was a short break, during which it was decided that the delayed legal arguments should be delayed again, until after Mark Gibson has given his evidence. That way, they can ascertain from that he says what is and isn't admissible. Since Mark was not keen to give his evidence today and as there was a witness in a wheelchair waiting, the Defence case started with testimony from Wayne Miller.

Mr Miller, 36, from Penrith, suffers from MS, which has put him in a wheelchair and evidently affected his vocal chords, since his voice was frail. Basically, he was asked to confirm how the system worked, which he did. He contacted THC4MS and they wrote back, saying he needed proof of MS diagnosis before they could supply him. The final question from Mr Hoare - which he shouldn't have asked, but everybody heard the answer - was, "Did it help?" And the emphatic reply came, loudly and clearly, "Yes".

And that was that for today. The court rose at 12:30pm, with the Judge apologising to the jury for having kept them so late! On their way out of court, two members of the jury were overheard muttering about not being allowed to see the mysterious letter. So, the jury left today thinking abut a letter from a doctor that's mentioned in Lezley's evidence and in witness statements, but which they're not allowed to see. Some of them must be starting to detect a fishy smell!

The case resumes on Monday morning at 10:30am with Mark giving evidence and the legal arguments have again been deferred until afterwards. Mark's turn on the witness stand will be one of the highlights of this trial and may even be quite comical, since Mr Grout-Smith is bound to be up and down like a jack-in-the-box, objecting. Thanks to everyone who took a few moments to direct their thoughts toward this trial this afternoon. Sadly, we didn't scupper it, but - who knows? - it might have made some difference.