13 Aug 2019

Glitch delays New Caledonia trial

8:33 pm on 13 August 2019

A technical glitch in a New Caledonian court has prompted the deferral of a trial of a teenager whose outburst shut down bus services in Noumea for almost four days.

Carsud Bus, Noumea

Carsud Bus, Noumea Photo: Mike Cornwall

Media reports say the device to show the video-recording of the suspect assaulting a bus driver didn't work.

With the defence insisting on the recording of the incident to be shown, the judges postponed the trial until 10 September.

The 18-year-old suspect is alleged to have attacked the driver last Thursday which prompted all drivers of the Carsud company to halt work from Thursday until Sunday night.

The court however decided to execute two earlier prison sentences given to him and sent him to jail.

Last month, a 34-year-old man was given a jail sentence for threatening a bus driver of the same company with a rifle.