A Commonwealth Games weightlifter has gone on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting another man in a supermarket toilet after a sheriff dismissed concerns that he would be unable to understand the proceedings.
Toua Udia, 22, denies intentionally or recklessly touching the man's testicles in a coffee shop toilet in Tesco on Dalmarnock Road in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, on July 21.
The trial was delayed at Glasgow Sheriff Court this morning while Sheriff Martin Jones decided whether Udia, from Papua New Guinea, was competent enough to understand the proceedings.
About 800 languages and dialects are spoken in Papua New Guinea and concerns were raised that Udia's interpreter did not speak the required dialect of pidgin English.
Sheriff Jones decided that a verbatim translation was not required and the trial could proceed with reference to photographs and anatomical diagrams if required.
Udia's accuser began his evidence in the early afternoon, insisting the athlete touched his testicles while he was helping him to strap an ice pack to his leg.
"I came out of the cubicle and saw him strapping a bandage to his left calf," he told the court.
"I asked him: 'Are you okay?'. He asked me if I could help him tie the bandage.
"I went to his right side and he said: 'No, the other side'.
"I took both ends of the bandage and he said: 'Pull it tight'.
"I held it as tight as I could and he put his left hand between my legs and touched my testicle with two fingers.
"There was a bit of pressure. It wasn't a scuff and it wasn't a total grab, but it was definitely as if someone was poking.
"I said: 'Hey!' to tell him to back off. He looked at me and just smiled as though it was normal, with a wee smirk, as if everything was fine."
The accuser said he did not consent to the contact or wish it to happen, and that he left the toilet and alerted staff and the police.
Procurator Fiscal Depute Adele MacDonald said: "It might be suggested that you are not telling the truth today and that you are looking for media attention given that Mr Udia is in the Commonwealth Games."
The accuser insisted he is not looking for media attention.
Ian Moir, defending, said: "This case is one which has had a huge impact on (Udia), particularly because his career hangs in the balance.
"His family contacted me over the weekend to indicate how terribly difficult they were finding it, including the problems that a case of this type has brought to Mr Udia and his family."
He outlined the communication difficulties his client has had with the interpreter, who has been trained and approved by the Home Office but admitted that he did not speak Udia's stated dialect.
Mr Moir said: "The delegation to the Games have done their best to assist and have advised that there are 800 languages and dialects in Papua New Guinea alone, so these have been simply to do the best possible without the correct resources.
"The secretary to the High Commission of Papua New Guinea in London Nasser Tamei has also raised concerns to me about about this issue."
He added: "An experienced interpreter has submitted that that he doesn't speak this language and he has never interpreted in it before, but that he will try to explain in a language that he is not sure about. My submission is that is not good enough."
Sheriff Jones dismissed these concerns and the trial continues this afternoon.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article