THE TIMES
10th FEB , 1983
THE TIMES DIARY
Trial of century
The lawyers Louis Blom-Cooper QC and Timothy Cassell, junior counsel to the Treasury at the Old Bailey, leave next week for St Helena, where they will act for defence and prosecution respectively in the island's first murder case since 1905. The RAF will fly them to Ascension, where the boat for St Helena is being held to await their arrival. After the trial of a labourer accused of shooting a policeman, Blom-Cooper and Cassell will have time for some holiday reading, since they will have to remain on the island until the boat returns on March 8. St Helena's tiny courtroom, by Jamestown harbour , also recently saw its first drugs trial, which ended in confusion when it was realized that two defence witnesses had been sitting listening to all the proceedings before they were called. The magistrates imposed a £50 fine for possession of cannabis, but also ordered that one of the withered plants which had been the subject of the case should be displayed in the local handicraft shop so that innocent islanders could see what they were like.
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