What the jury didn't hear in Ruth Lawrence murder trial: the key witness who suffered heart attack and a praise-giving pastor

"Clergyman at Christian church in South Africa told the trial how murderer Lawrence helped him 'run a safe house for victims of human trafficking'."

"Just a few days into Ruth Lawrence's trial, which was being heard 11 years after the garda investigation began, prosecution counsel Michael O'Higgins SC told the judge in the absence of the jury that he had some "unexpected news"."

"Counsel told the court that Jason Symes, one of the two key witnesses in the case, had been admitted to hospital as an acute patient after suffering a heart attack."

A clergyman at a Christian church in South Africa said Lawrence helped him run a safe house for victims of human trafficking. The trial of Ruth Lawrence was heard 11 years after the garda investigation began. A few days into the trial, prosecution counsel Michael O'Higgins SC informed the judge, in the absence of the jury, that he had "unexpected news." Counsel told the court that Jason Symes, one of the two key witnesses in the case, had been admitted to hospital as an acute patient after suffering a heart attack.

Read at Independent