Gran travels for 16 hours and almost 1,000 miles to stand as witness in court – only to be told trial been cancelled

A gran who embarked on a 16-hour trip to attend a court date discovered her appearance as a witness had been cancelled at the 11th hour, leaving her more than £1,000 out of pocket.

Allison Mackay was due to give evidence at a trial at Tain Sheriff Court, Ross-shire, in August last year.

At the time, she was working as an agency nurse on the Isle of Man. She made the 980-mile journey by air and road from the Irish Sea holiday island to the Highlands via Gatwick Airport in London.

However, when she arrived home in Tain on the day of the hearing, she discovered a letter from the court informing her that the accused had pled guilty and she was no longer required to appear.

“It was dated just two days before the case was due and it must have only arrived the previous day.”

Allison, 54, said: “I was furious that no one had phoned or emailed me”

When Allison applied to get a portion of her expenses back, she was told that she would not be due anything as she had not followed the right procedures.

The Crown Office insisted that it was in the right to deny her claim, saying that she should have informed them in advance about her costs. More than a year later, she is still fighting for compensation.

The drama started when the grandmother-of-three accepted a last-minute temporary nursing job at Noble’s Hospital on the Isle of Man.

She knew she had the court appearance looming but when she got to the island, she discovered a popular motorbike event was happening the same week and the only flight she could get to the mainland on time was via Gatwick.

“A one-way ticket on easyJet to London cost me more than £150 and it didn’t arrive until 11pm,” Allison said.

She then shelled out a further £180 for a hire car at the airport for the 13-hour overnight drive north to Tain – plus another £50 for fuel.

But the expense didn’t stop there. Allison said: “I stopped at a motorway service station near Newcastle for a nap and when I woke up I found a parking fine ticket for £100 on my windscreen because I had been there for more than two hours.

“I couldn’t believe it when I eventually got home and discovered the letter from the court saying that everything had been cancelled.”

Allison incurred further costs on the way back to the isle a few days later. She paid another £100 to leave the rental car at Inverness Airport then forked out another £249 for direct return flights.

On top of this, Allison said she was losing about £420 a day in wages from her 12-hour shifts at the hospital.

“I was more than £1,000 down from trying to do the right thing and be home in time for court,” she said. “I didn’t think I would get all of the money back but I felt I was certainly due something as I was also off work for four days, which my employer verified.”

Allison was dismayed when in August this year, the Crown Office wrote to her to say that a final decision had been made – and no expenses could be reimbursed, as she had not followed the rules.

The Crown Office said: “Every witness cited is issued with a booklet which clearly sets out what the witness requires to do regarding expenses, particularly, what to do if a flight is required when travelling from a distance.

“Unfortunately there is very little we can do in these circumstances as the guidelines were not adhered to.”

Allison said she intends to appeal the decision.

“I am being penalised for going out of my way to do the right thing,” she said. “I feel I have been treated poorly by the people who are supposed to reflect and uphold justice.”

The COPFS said that after being contacted by The Sunday Post that it would now review Allison’s case and issue a response “no later than November 1”.