A lawyer's payroll tax arrears mean an attempted murder trial will not begin as scheduled on Tuesday.

Larry Scott wanted to bring top Jamaican Queen's Counsel Frank Phipps to Bermuda to represent Quincy Brangman.

However, Chief Justice Richard Ground revealed yesterday that Mr. Phipps was refused a work permit due to Mr. Scott's tax arrears. Mr. Scott applied to be taken off the case as a result.

"The reasons for the application don't have anything to do with the client. We do not wish to prejudice the client with the difficulties we are experiencing," he explained.

Brangman, 32, is accused of trying to kill Ireland Rangers football player Nathan Darrell, 23, by shooting him near his home in Kitchener Close, Sandys on February 13. He denies the allegation, and was granted legal aid for Mr. Scott's services.

Mr. Scott said of the refusal to grant Mr. Phipps a work permit: "I don't know if it's lawful, but it's policy".

He revealed that the same problem has arisen before, although he successfully appealed to the Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety then.

Mr. Justice Ground agreed to take Mr. Scott off the case, commenting: "Mr. Brangman is a victim of your circumstances."

He scheduled another hearing for September 10, and urged Brangman to try to find another lawyer by then.

A report by the Auditor General scolded Government in February for purchasing services from companies in arrears with payroll tax.

Mr. Scott, who runs law firm Scott and Scott, declined to reveal yesterday how much he owes.

He told this newspaper in March that he experiences financial difficulties because legal aid payments sometimes take 60 days or more to come through.

"If legal aid doesn't pay me, I don't pay Government's payroll tax. And if I don't pay they won't give me permission to bring in a Queen's Counsel (from overseas)" he said at the time.

Yesterday, he revealed plans to focus on private work in the civil courts in future "because the clients pay better".

Meanwhile, a murder trial that was also scheduled to begin on Tuesday has also been delayed because the defendant lost the services of his lawyer.

Jermaine Pearman, 37, is charged with the premeditated killing of 23-year-old prison officer Shakeya DeRoza, the mother of his two young children.

Ms DeRoza collapsed and died in front of Rose's Flower Shop in Middle Road, Sandys, after succumbing to multiple injuries sustained on July 10 2009.

In addition to the murder charge, Pearman is further accused of possessing a knife with a seven-inch blade on the Railway Trail in Sandys, the location where he was apprehended.

He denies the charge, but his lawyer Charles Richardson asked yesterday to withdraw from the case for reasons he did not specify. He explained he had set out the reasons in a letter to Chief Justice Richard Ground.

Mr. Justice Ground set another hearing in the case for October 1, and urged Pearman to try to find himself another lawyer before then.