Court trial delayed for Anthony James Griffin, 31, who told court he was ‘too busy with work’

A Coolgardie man has had his upcoming trial delayed after he told a Kalgoorlie magistrate he was “too busy with work” to make it to the trial. Anthony James Griffin was set to go to trial on Friday to defend himself against a charge of creating false belief. Representing himself in Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court on Monday, the 31-year-old filed an application to vacate the trial to a later date. He told magistrate Paul Lyons “I’ve gotta get it changed” and stated he was “flat out” at work because his business has “exploded”. Mr Griffin told the court he was providing a service to the community and helping boost the economy with his property management business which helps “fully re-do” properties and “get them up to scratch”. Labelling the application “unsatisfactory”, Mr Lyons told Mr Griffin he could not just pop up a few days before the trial and say “I’m too busy at work, can we do it another day?” Mr Griffin said he also did not have the $10,000 he needed to pay his lawyer to represent him in trial because he recently had to buy new cars for work. Mr Lyons accepted the application with a “significant amount of reluctance” after noting an “entirely undesirable” witness application had also been put forward by the prosecution. The application was for a witness to give evidence over the phone, instead of from a courthouse or police station as is the standard, because they did not know where they would be on Friday. “Both the prosecution application and Mr Griffin’s application seem to misapprehend what is involved in listing a trial,” Mr Lyons said. “It’s not a casual chat, it’s a trial. “The expectation is if it’s a video link it’s in a location consistent with the formality of proceedings. “You cannot just Teams from a car or the back of a McDonald’s he thought he might be able to accommodate.” With no trial dates remaining for Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court this year, Mr Lyons said the trial would likely now be heard in 2026. The matter will return to court on June 23 for a new trial date to be set.

Court trial delayed for Anthony James Griffin, 31, who told court he was ‘too busy with work’

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