Man facing trial for attempted murder fires his Advocate

Sunday 21 August 2016

Bangladeshi Kamal Hussain faces a charge of attempted murder on October 17 following an incident at a Millbrook park earlier this year.

The Royal Court on Friday heard 37-year-old Hussain, who has been remanded in custody, complain that the legal advice he had received was “wrong.”

In an extraordinary exchange at the court Hussain said: “I am representing myself. Attempted murder does not exist in my case. For attempted murder you need to make a pre-meditated plan and there was no plan.”

Commissioner Sir Michael Birt urged Hussain to receive legal advice, saying: “You are facing a very serious charge and if convicted the punishment will be very serious. An Advocate is a professional expert, trained to do the job of properly representing you. There are plenty of Advocates out there who are very competent in doing that. It is for you to decide but my strong advice to you would be to seek the services of a legally trained person.”

Hussain then complained he did not have the finances to pay for an Advocate. 

Commissioner Birt said: “The Attorney General can have a word with the legal aid authorities because this is a very serious charge and I urge you to be legally represented.

“You really need to get a new lawyer because the trial date has been fixed.”

Hussain said he wanted to call five witnesses for the trial, to which Commissioner Birt replied: “You are entitled to call as many witnesses as you like, but again, I do urge you to accept the advice of a new Advocate.    

“If you fight this charge yourself you will find that very difficult. Hopefully a lawyer can get in touch with you while you are in prison awaiting the court date. You will remain remanded in custody, but I do wish you to be represented legally.”