Judgment No CCZ 1/2015 7 Const. Application No SC 54/11 It appears that the applicant may have been under the impression that once the charges against him were withdrawn such charges would then be forgotten. WHETHER THE DELAY HAS PREJUDICED THE APPLICANT When the applicant gave evidence on the possible prejudice he would suffer as a result of the delay, he stated that one of his defence witnesses had died and the other two could not be located. However there was no evidence placed on the record as to what efforts had been made to find these two witnesses. He also testified that the anxiety had affected him to such an extent that at one stage he attempted to commit suicide by taking poison. The delay in prosecuting a case will inevitably affect an accused person as he will have forgotten some of the evidence. Indeed the applicant in this case stated that it was difficult for him to remember the events of the case due to lapse of time. That this may be possible was conceded by the State. However, this is not unique to the applicant as the same difficulty will affect the State witnesses. On the claim that it may be difficult to locate the two remaining defence witnesses no detail was given on the efforts that had been made to locate them. DISPOSITION In deciding whether or not to grant a stay in proceedings the Court must consider the various factors together. The applicant faces a very serious offence. It is not in dispute that a life was lost at the hands of the applicant.