Sex abuse trial for city man delayed

Published on Monday 17 December 2007 09:39

A CHARITY worker from Edinburgh is facing another five months in an Albanian jail after his trial on child abuse charges was postponed indefinitely.

David Brown – who has already been held for 19 months – was due to face a jury last week after allegations of abuse at the His Children home, which he ran in the capital Tirana.

But the judge decided to postpone his case until after the trial of an Albanian co-worker, Janaq "Natchi" Papaleka. The pair were to be tried together, but will now appear one at a time.

Mr Brown, 56, has always denied any wrongdoing, and says he uncovered the abuse in the orphanage. He appeared in court for less than 15 minutes on Thursday. Under the country's law, he can be kept for up to two years without trial.

Supporters say he is "absolutely devastated" by the decision. He is also very concerned about his elderly mother, who is having difficulty coping alone in Scotland.

Mr Brown's partner Ruth Callaghan said: "The situation has just got worse. They were only in court for ten-15 minutes, during which time the judge decided to try Nachi and David separately.

"They are going to have to appoint another judge to try David's case. At the moment, they've no idea when it will be.

"David's been in there for 19 months now. He is absolutely devastated. He's at his lowest ebb now. He has been crying out of despair. The cells are freezing.

"He can't understand why nothing has happened. He's very concerned about his mum, as she's just lost her husband. This has been devastating for her. We don't know how she'll be able to keep going.We have sent letters from her doctor to say how desperately she needs him at home."

She said Mrs Brown was "very frail" and suffers from Parkinson's disease and diabetes. The stress of the case also took its toll on Mr Brown's father Douglas, 86, who died earlier this year from lung cancer while his son was in jail.

Ms Callaghan added: "It looks like they are trying to drag it out as long as they can. Someone suggested they've got so little evidence, they are going to wait till they extradite the other two men and hope they say something incriminating about him."

Albanian police arrested Mr Brown, an evangelical Christian who lived in Edinburgh for more than ten years, and fellow workers at the His Children orphanage in May last year. He opened the care home about six years ago after seeing the plight of street children in Tirana during an aid mission.

Two other former helpers at the refuge, Robin Arnold, 55, and Dino Christodoulou, 44, are accused of molesting six victims aged between six and 13. Both men are wanted to stand trial. Following an extradition request, Christodoulou, of Blackburn, Lancashire, was arrested. Arnold was arrested in Cromer, Norfolk.