A case in which a North East man was told he was at strong risk of being jailed has been delayed because of the failure of his lawyer to turn up in court.
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Magistrate Tony Murray was incredulous when updated on the development by the defendant’s mother in Albury Local Court this week.
He recommended the family of the defendant make a complaint about what had happened.
Giuseppe Salvatore Gugliandolo appeared via a video link to jail, having pleaded guilty to several charges.
These were a second offence of drive while disqualified, shoplifting, receiving property stolen outside NSW, resist police and being carried in conveyance without consent of the owner.
Details of the offences were not put before Mr Murray.
Gugliandolo had hoped to have the matters dealt with, but that was not possible because of the development that unfolded only hours before his case was mentioned in court.
When Mr Murray asked whether there was a legal representative for Gugliandolo, he was told the name of the Sydney-based practitioner who had taken on the case.
Mr Murray then asked someone to spell the lawyer’s name for the court record, at which point Gugliandolo’s mother did so from the public gallery.
She was asked to come forward to the bar table so she could further assist the court on why her son had been left without legal representation. The woman told the court this had only happened during a phone call the previous night.
She was discussing the case with the lawyer, she said, when she informed him she would be about $200 short in what she was able to pay him to represent her son.
With that, she said, he told her that he could no longer represent Gugliandolo and so would not be travelling to Albury to appear for him in court.
Mr Murray slammed the lawyer’s actions as totally unacceptable and suggested Gugliandolo’s family consider making a complaint to the Law Society of NSW against the solicitor involved. The matter was adjourned for a further mention on Tuesday.