A Muslim on trial who was warned she would have to remove her veil and bare her face in the witness box so jurors could see her face has decided not to give evidence.
Judge Peter Murphy made the landmark ruling that 22-year-old Rebekah Dawson must remove her niqab and show her face to the court while giving evidence so that jurors could see her expressions.
Her barrister, Susan Meek, told the jury at Blackfriars Crown Court in London that she will not be giving evidence in her own defence.
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Rebekah Dawson arrives at Blackfriars Crown Court wearing a niqab. She and her brother Matthias are accused of intimidating a potential witness
Judge Murphy had asked Ms Meek whether she had told her client that the jury would be free to 'draw such inferences as might be proper' from a decision not to give evidence.
She said she had.
'Does she intend to give evidence? he asked.
'No', Ms Meek replied.
Dawson, of Hackney, east London, is on trial alongside her brother, Matthias Dawson, 32, accused of intimidating a security guard at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London last June.
It is alleged they approached Daudi Yusuf at the mosque after an incident between him and Ms Dawson’s husband.
Both defendants deny a single charge of witness intimidation.
Ms Meek, for Rebekah Dawson, told the jury her client's veil had been the 'elephant in the room' during the trial but they should ignore it while deciding on their verdicts.
Summing up Dawson's defence case, Ms Meek said: 'She was given a choice by the judge - she either gave evidence with the niqab off or she remained in the dock with it on.
She has remained in the dock.
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Dawson is on trial alongside her brother accused of intimidating a security guard at the Finsbury Park mosque
'You have to try the case on the evidence you have heard in the courtroom without having heard from her.'
She added: 'This is not a trial about the niqab, the niqab is not on trial in this courtroom. This is a woman accused of a criminal offence who happens to wear a niqab.'
Ms Meek said Rebekah Dawson admitted speaking to Mr Yusuf at the mosque on the evening of June 23.
Dawson claims they discussed the original row involving her husband, on June 10.
She alleges the original row started when Yusuf asked her to remove her veil at the mosque.
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Rebekah Dawson arriving at Blackfriars Crown Court in Central London for her trial last week
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Covered up: Rebekah Dawson has not removed her niqab for any of her court hearings
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Judge Peter Murphy told the jury that Rebekah Dawson was 'fully entitled' to dress how she chose to in court
Ms Meek said the conversation between Dawson and Yusuf at the mosque on June 23 may have been irritating to Mr Yusuf, but it was not intimidating.
People in a nearby room were shown on CCTV not being disturbed by any raised voices, the court heard.
'It was not a shouting match, there are no raised voices in any shape or fashion,' she said.
'No one is getting concerned about what is being said.'
The trial will continue tomorrow, when the jury is expected to retire to consider its verdicts.
Earlier in the trial, Judge Murphy told the jury that Dawson was 'fully entitled' to dress how she chose to in court.
He told jurors to put aside any feelings they might have about her appearance because they would have nothing to do with the case.
Muslim convert Mr Dawson admitted attending the mosque with the hood of his hoodie raised.
But he said he had been there because he had been giving his sister a lift through the area, she had wanted to pray, and he decided to do the same.
He said he heard his sister talking with a man but denied being involved himself.
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