When Simon Goodley went to Southwark crown court to cover a fraud case, he found the wheels of justice can turn slowly Here's how fraud trials work. Achilleas Kallakis, the nephew of a Greek shipping tycoon, is on trial at Southwark crown court for conducting an alleged ?750m fraud against Allied Irish Banks and Lloyds Banking Group. He and his co-accused, close friend and business partner Alexander Williams, have pleaded not guilty - so the jury will now have to consider reams of complex evidence relating to special purpose vehicles, possible forged documents and "virtual" offices. The whole thing is expected to last for three months. But might it be even longer? Today's evidence was given via a Hong Kong video link - which exasperated Judge Goymer and his courtroom with its poor sound quality and repeated system crashes. The in-court interpreter - who was translating counsels' questions into Cantonese and the witness's replies into English - then decided not to continue, necessitating a Hong Kong replacement to be swiftly found. The whole set piece, which had been scheduled to last two hours, has so far taken four and they'll be doing it all again tomorrow. The wheels of justice and all that ? Crime Simon Goodley guardian.co.uk © 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds