Walsall woman in court over forced marriage allegations told to lift veil
Identification scramble as defendant asked to lift modesty veil
A defendant appearing in crown court with a face covering was ordered by the judge to remove it before the hearing over child forced marriage allegations could go ahead.
Resident judge Michael Chambers KC insisted that Shirin Akhtar removed the black veil for identification purposes before he gave the nod for the case to proceed in Wolverhampton on Tuesday afternoon.
Akhtar, aged 53, and Hannen Abdul, aged 56, both of Walsall, appeared for a preliminary hearing charged with an offence of carrying out conduct for purpose of causing a child to enter into marriage between July 17 to July 31, 2023.
The judge told the female bespectacled defendant, who was wearing black head and face coverings and a floor-length cloak, the courtroom would be cleared to allow female court staff to confirm who she was.
“The defendant must be identified without the face covering or the case will not go ahead. It could be anybody,” he said.
Then Judge Chambers and members of the public left the room while Akhtar’s defence barrister Miss Alison Scott-Jones, who attended via video link, and the female court clerk carried out the identification procedure during which the barrister removed her wig and the defendant briefly removed the modesty covering, known as niqab which showed only her eyes.
The barrister asked for the camera to be zoomed for a closer look and added that she had previously met her client in person and remembered what she looked like.
The hearing resumed a short time later to the satisfaction of the parties.
Judge Chambers told the defendants their trial under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 201 would be held on November 30. Akhtar, a Bengali speaker, and Abdul were granted bail until then.
He warned them that the trial may go ahead in their absence if they failed to attend.