THE mysterious disappearance of Pauline Holgate will not prevent her husband from getting a fair trial, the District Court ruled yesterday.
Defence lawyer Alexander King asked Judge Surman last Friday to halt Clive Holgate's corruption trial on the grounds the former civil servant's wife was an essential witness.
It would be unjust to go on without her testimony, Mr King said.
Prosecutor Bernard Ryan, in his counter-attack yesterday, said there was no evidence to indicate Mrs Holgate was a 'material witness'.
'It is no more likely she would have assisted the defence than she would have assisted the prosecution,' he said. 'Her evidence may in fact have been detrimental to the defence. We just don't know.' Judge Surman rejected the defence lawyer's bid to stop the trial, concluding that continuation would not represent an abuse of process.
Earlier, Mr King had said Mrs Holgate, 40, who vanished in January 1992, was the only person who could back her husband's claim he had not received $1.6 million in corrupt payments.