By 3 News online staff
An alcoholic struggling to deliver his testimony in a German murder trial got an unusual helping hand from the judge – two small bottles of brandy.
Homeless man Miroslav Waldchek, 50, was suffering withdrawal after not being allowed to drink beforehand, reports the Daily Mail.
"I think you need a drink," Judge Frank Rosenow told Waldcheck. "I think I do too, your honour," he replied.
The judge dispatched an assistant who returned with two 100ml bottles of weinbrand, a strong German brandy.
Waldcheck left the courtroom, and 40 minutes later returned "somewhat refreshed, and no longer shaking".
"I am mightily grateful your honour," he told the judge.
A lawyer for the opposition objected, saying it was not the state's role to administer alcohol.
"Will it soon be the case that drug-addicted witnesses will be offered heroin on the stand?" asked Marcin Raminski.
Judge Rosenow said the court hadn't ordered Waldcheck to drink. He had just "created circumstances under which the witness had the opportunity to take alcohol for his and the court's benefit".
Waldcheck was later rushed to hospital after the alcohol clashed with painkillers he was on. The case was adjourned.
3 News