AN anonymous witness cursed a defence lawyer as retrial of a former Legionnaire paratrooper, accused of attempting to murder a loyalist paramilitary leader, Johnny Adair, had to be adjourned for the second consecutive day because she could not go on.
The woman, known only as Witness 2, in a murmured but audible aside, called the defence lawyer for Mr Stephen Larkin (25) "a bastard". Although counsel initially ignored the swearing, after the woman had left the screened witness-box he asked Mr Justice Kerr to have the matter formally noted in the court record.
The woman accused Mr Larkin, from Jamaica Road, Belfast, of laughing and smiling at her while she was giving her evidence. Rejecting the allegation, Mr Larkin's lawyer also asked that it be recorded that his client had not "smiled, laughed, smirked or grinned" at the witness.
But Mr Justice Kerr, while agreeing that the objection be noted, told the lawyer that he had "observed inappropriate expressions on the face of your client".
Mr Justice Kerr adjourned the trial early for the second day after the witness refused to continue being cross-examined by defence counsel.
The woman claims Mr Larkin was the lone gunman who riddled Adair's car as he sat chatting to a friend outside his Berlin Street home on March 6th, 1993. The trial continues on Monday.