Man appears in court over collapse of trial

A man accused of causing the collapse of a trial into a triple school stabbing has appeared in court.

In April, a 14-year-old girl, who cannot be named, was sentenced to 15 years at Swansea Crown Court for the attempted murder of two teachers and a pupil, following the second trial that began in January.

Christopher Elias, 45, from Waunceirch, Neath Port Talbot, has been charged with the offence of refusing to answer a question relating to the qualification to serve on a jury.

He appeared in Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on Monday, and has been told to return on 30 June.

Fiona Elias, Liz Hopkin and a pupil who cannot be named for legal reasons were stabbed by the teenager at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, last April.

The first trial involving the girl collapsed in October, because of what the judge described as a “great irregularity in the jury”.

The charge on Mr Elias falls under the Juries Act 1974, which sets out requirements as to who is eligible for jury service in Wales and England, and permits court officers to put questions to potential jurors to establish whether or not they are qualified to form part of a jury.