A man accused of assaulting a woman to be able to intimidate her in a court building after a major lapse of victim support procedures.
The alleged assailant was given freedom to roam every public area of the court house, except the witness waiting room, where the case was being heard.
As a result, he was able to wait outside the building for her, when it was closed at lunchtime.
On one occasion, the man approached and intimidate her inside the building as she had to leave the witness room to go to the toilet.
Details of the case emerged in a report which called for prosecutors to do more to protect vulnerable witnesses.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) found “inadequate” arrangements existed to prevent contact between the woman and her accused while she was giving evidence.
The victim was required to attend court twice as a witness and victim of charges relating to assault and threatening behaviour.
She was identified as a vulnerable witness and arrangements were made to allow her to give evidence behind a screen.
The SPSO was critical that neither the Scottish Court and Tribunal Service (SCTS) or the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) had not put in place any additional special measures to ensure her safety such as a separate exit route, working with police to stagger departure times or arranging for her to remain in the building during lunchtime.
They have been told to apologise to the victim that arrangements were not put in place to avoid contact between her and the accused.
The report concluded: “There should be a clear process for COPFS to communicate to SCTS where they consider a witness would benefit from additional arrangements in the court building [such as arrangements to avoid contact with the accused.] “We considered it was unreasonable for both organisations to not have a clear and shared understanding of this process given that they are jointly responsible for working together to support and protect vulnerable witnesses.
The identity of the court of the accused man was not revealed in the report.
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