Assault charge man asks judge from travel costs from Turkey

PLEAS by a man accused of assault for his travel costs to be paid by the court have been thrown out by a judge – after it emerged he had come all the way from Turkey.

Selcuk Kis, 35, said since being charged with the alleged assault he had moved back to his homeland from Cheltenham.

He said he had travelled back to the UK for his three day trial, which ended with him being acquitted of assaulting former neighbour Andrew Shakespeare causing him actual bodily harm.

Mr Kis asked Judge Jamie Tabor QC at Gloucester Crown Court to make a defendant's costs order in his favour to cover his travel expenses from Turkey. He had money problems and had been forced to borrow the cost of his fare, he said.

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But Judge Tabor said it was his choice to return to Turkey and the court would only pay for his local travel costs, limiting the amount to £100.

The jury took just 45 minutes to find Kis not guilty.

He had been accused of punching and kicking Mr Shakespeare after being called a "thieving maggot" by his alleged victim.

Mr Shakespeare suffered a triple fracture of the nose and other injuries in the incident outside the block of bedsits where they both lived on in Bath Road on March 31.

Mr Shakespeare told the court he was fed up with Mr Kis taking food from the communal kitchen and as well as entering his room and taking clothing and other belongings.

Prosecutor Mary Cowe told the jury: "The defendant and the victim had both lived in the building for some years and there had been some problems between them."

Mr Shakespeare alleged his nose had been broken in three places and he had bruising and swelling to his cheekbones and fore after being assaulted by Mr Kis on March 30

But when Kis was arrested, he told police he had not attacked Mr Shakespeare at all and had been acting in self defence.

After the jury's verdict, defence barrister Kannan Siva asked for a defendant's costs order to cover his client's travel.

When the judge asked how much was being sought, Mr Kis said from the dock: "I have suffered quite a lot from this case, including the financial costs. I came for this case and I should not suffer for it."

But the judge said: "I am not prepared to pay his fee for travelling from Turkey.