TRIAL dates in several murder cases at the Home Circuit Court could not be set on Friday as the old photocopier that serves the majority of the Supreme Court broke down for two days during the week.

The court was told that files pertaining to a number of the murder and other cases on the mention list were not copied as the outdated machine was out of use.

The disclosure angered attorney Vincent Wellesley, who complained to Justice Marva McIntosh that it was now the fifth mention date set for him to receive the transcript from the first trial of a client of his.

“I’m disappointed that each time I go to court the transcript is not ready. Each time there is an excuse; if it’s not the court reporters it’s the machine,” Wellesley later told the Observer.

A court worker, who asked not to be named, told the Observer that the Sharp Ar-810 Digital Imager “often breaks down because it is old” and is unable to handle the heavy workload.

Said the court worker: “We have too many things in the court to do and that one machine cannot handle the load. We need another one to back it up. We copy documents for the Revenue Court, Gun Court, Circuit Court and sometimes for the Court of Appeal. It’s just too much,” the source said. “Thousands of pages are copied per day,” said the court worker.

April Scott, office manager at the Supreme Court, told the Observer that the machine, which is in “an overuse state”, broke down, was repaired but then broke down shortly after, due to a “bad feeder”.

She said that the Ministry of Justice was now in the process of providing a new copier, but said there were other machines on the premises that could be used “in case of emergencies”.