Witness in Ighani trial returns to court

PENTICTON – A reluctant witness who failed to show up at a hearing earlier this month was back in court this morning as the trial of Afshin Ighani moved forward.

Ighani faces 10 counts including weapons and kidnapping charges stemming from an incident that took place in and around Princeton on April 22, 2017.

Ighani is alleged to have forced his two victims, William Gleige and Jodie Walker, to drive from Okanagan Falls to Manning Park, where he threatened Gleige with a gun, eventually leaving him on a remote forestry road.

He then had Walker drive him back to Princeton where he attempted to escape police custody after police located the vehicle in a trailer park.

The trial was adjourned in December last year to follow up on testimony from victim Jodie Walker that Ighani had been phoning Walker while in prison awaiting trial.

Ighani’s trial was due to resume earlier this month, but Crown Prosecutor Kurt Froehlich told Judge Gary Weatherill today, Jan. 28, the trial was adjourned after Walker failed to show up on Jan. 7, resulting in a warrant being issued for her on Jan. 9.

Walker was in court today, after being arrested and released on recognizance to appear at today’s hearing.

Both defence lawyer Paul McMurray and Froehlich agreed they'll need another two days for the trial as Judge Nitya Iyer is expected to hear results of the investigation into Ighani’s alleged phone calls to his victim.

The judge must also rule on whether preliminary hearing evidence given by a second victim, William Gleige, can be admitted. Gleige is believed to have fled to the United States to avoid testifying.

Ighani is also facing trial on charges of two separate alleged assaults that occurred while Ighani was incarcerated at Okanagan Correctional Centre.

He is currently in custody at the North Fraser Correctional Centre.

Ighani’s next court appearance is set for Feb. 25 when dates for trial in all of Ighani’s matters are expected to be set.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad or call 250-488-3065 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.