Trial delayed by car crash

THE trial of a countess who is alleged to have allowed a rabbit to roam around kitchen of the Yarmouth hotel she owned was adjourned yesterday after she was involved in a car crash.

THE trial of a countess who is alleged to have allowed a rabbit to roam around kitchen of the Yarmouth hotel she owned was adjourned yesterday after she was involved in a car crash.

Countess Athanasia Constantine had to be treated by paramedics after the Toyota she was driving hit a tree in the car park of Yarmouth's Sainsbury at 9.15am yesterday.

After the crash, police took the 39-year-old to Yarmouth Magistrates' Court where her trial for breaching 17 food and hygiene regulations at the Fairholme Hotel was due to start at 10am.

It is alleged that during a Yarmouth Borough Council environmental health inspection on January 2007 inspectors found a rabbit roaming in the kitchen and that staff were untrained or poorly supervised and smoked in the cooking area.

Constantine, of Mil Hill, London, claims that at the time of the inspection she had sub-let the hotel and the breaches were the responsibility of the new landlord.

Yesterday's trial was adjourned until this morning because Constantine was having trouble focussing and could not read court documents because of the accident.

Adjourning the case judge Philip Browning said: “I am sorry you had an accident this morning.”

The case is expected to last four days.