Witness in rape trial gave evidence for an HOUR before anyone realised she wasn't speaking English - and when an interpreter was found simply said: 'I can't remember'

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A witness gave evidence for an hour before anyone realised she was not speaking English. Judge Nicholas Madge (pictured) was eventually told she was speaking Krio, an African Creole variant

A woman gave evidence in a rape trial for an hour before anyone realised she was not speaking English.

She was testifying against a preacher who allegedly raped her and sexually assaulted her schoolgirl daughter after claiming she had been ‘cursed’ by witchcraft.

Barristers asked the witness to speak more slowly and stand further from the microphone so the jury could understand her, blaming her accent and the courtroom’s ‘acoustics’.

But finally court clerk Christiana Kyemenu-Caiquo realised the problem – the witness was not speaking English at all, but Krio, an African Creole variant that is native to Sierra Leone. Miss Kyemenu-Caiquo, who also hails from Sierra Leone, told Judge Nicholas Madge about the unfortunate situation about an hour into yesterday’s proceedings.

In desperation, the judge swore the clerk in to interpret for the 38-year-old witness, and a new clerk was found to replace her on the bench.

But the interpreter was barely used as the witness – who cannot be named for legal reasons – repeated the words ‘I can’t remember’ in response to almost every question.

Gilbert Deya, 61, a Kenyan preacher who runs Gilbert Deya Ministries, is charged with four counts of rape, one of attempted rape, two of sexual assault and one of battery.

His church, said to have a UK membership of 36,000, is run from a large unit on an industrial estate on the edge of Peckham, south-east London. The witness, who is originally from Freetown, Sierra Leone, claims to have been the subject of Deya’s abuse for up to eight years.

But after numerous complaints during her evidence that the woman could not be understood, the judge appointed Miss Kyemenu-Caiquo to help.

He told jurors: ‘Although not a standard interpretation … we are actually going to use Chrissy as something a bit like an interpreter.’ Miss Kyemenu-Caiquo then swore the standard interpreters’ oath and joined the witness in the box.

A woman gave evidence at Inner London Crown Court (pictured) for more than an hour before anyone realised she was not speaking English

Inner London Crown Court has heard that Deya’s alleged victim had come to Britain from Sierra Leone in 2003 and visited his church in Peckham in January 2006.

She came under Deya’s influence when she was convinced by her friends he was the only man who could cure voices in her head that were preventing her from sleeping, the court has been told.

But he kept the woman as a sex slave in a small room at one of his churches – forcing her to have an abortion when she became pregnant, it is alleged.

The court has heard that the first rape happened in late 2006 or early 2007 when Deya may have drugged the victim’s cup of tea before attacking her.

The preacher, of Peckham, later sexually assaulted her daughter by groping her breasts, the court was told. He denies all charges.

A spokesman from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service said the witness had been speaking a form of English ‘with an extremely strong accent’ that made it hard for the court to understand.

The spokesman added: ‘As a result, she was asked to repeat phrases and sentences … Even then it was difficult to understand.

Gilbert Deya, pictured centre, is on trial at Inner London Crown Court charged with sexual offences

‘The court clerk is also from Sierra Leone and could understand everything the witness said so it was agreed that the clerk would take the interpreter’s oath and assist.

‘She did not translate what the witness said but, when necessary, repeated in clear English those passages which could not be understood.’

Krio is spoken by about 97 per cent of Sierra Leone’s population and is native to the Creole people – descendants of freed slaves from the West Indies, United States and Britain. It is believed to date back to an English-based pidgin language that emerged in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The trial continues.