Appeals against decisions by a Dundee sheriff to throw out court cases due to failures by police and procurators to get witnesses to trials have been abandoned by the Crown.
The decision by the Crown, which was intimated to the law firm who had defended Francis Kelbie and Jack Cook, means a proposed hearing at the Appeals Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday has been cancelled.
The process has been labelled “a complete waste of time” by the president of the Dundee Bar Association, solicitor advocate Jim Laverty, who had acted in the cases of both Kelbie and Cook early last month when Sheriff Alastair Brown deserted the cases.
Both accused had denied charges of assault and shoplifting respectively against them and when they called in court in early October they were dismissed by the sheriff after he was told the Crown had still not been able to obtain vital CCTV evidence from police.
A third trial involving Nadia Shields, who had denied defrauding the benefits agency, was also dismissed by Sheriff Brown after delays of almost two years at the Department for Work and Pensions of providing evidence.
A fourth potential trial involving allegations of abuse against a child also collapsed after it emerged a vital witness had not been cited, although it is understood that the Crown did not appeal that particular case.
Mr Laverty, of Dundee law firm Muir Myles Laverty, said the initial decision by the Crown to appeal the sheriff’s ruling was “a complete waste of time for everybody involved”.
“We have been preparing very carefully for the hearing on Wednesday, considering their bill of advocation and Sheriff Brown’s very full and detailed report on the cases.
“Therefore it took us a wee bit by surprise when the notice came in that the Crown were no longer seeking to challenge the decisions.”
Mr Laverty had been instructing his firm’s senior legal representatives in Edinburgh to handle the case.
A spokesman for the Crown confirmed they had abandoned the two cases but stressed they were still going ahead with the appeal against the desertion of Nadia Shields’ case.
The spokesperson said: “It is the duty of the Crown to continually keep cases under review, including during all stages of appeal proceedings.
“After full and careful consideration of all of the available information, Crown counsel instructed that the appeals in respect of the cases against Jack Cook and Francis Kelbie should not proceed and these appeals have now been withdrawn.
“The appeal in the case against Nadia Shields is proceeding and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further.”