Flat Earth: Mistrial for judge

YOU CAN'T fault a Zimbabwean magistrate for trying to understand all the evidence presented at a trial. But a nervous prosecutor stopped Jacqueline Pratt from taking a snort of cocaine in a Harare courtroom. Ms Pratt ordered a container of white powder to be opened after a debate over whether it was in fact cocaine. A police officer had testified that the taste and smell were proof enough. Ms Pratt leaned down to take a good sniff but was stopped by the prosecutor, who warned: 'Your worship, that stuff is powerful: it will knock you down.'