A Gold Coast judge has refused to stand aside from a case involving an alleged fake Russian doctor, after accusations of bias. Vincent Berg, a former Soviet political refugee who is facing more than 20 charges including grievous bodily harm and using forged qualifications to gain medical registration in Queensland, on Wednesday sought to have Judge David Kent QC removed from the case. In a pre-trial hearing, defence lawyers argued the judge could be perceived as being biased because he had previously sat on the Medical Board. But Judge Kent ruled that the charges against Berg dated back to 1999, about 15 years before he was on the board. He said the argument that he could be seen as not being impartial was “understandable” but rejected it and declined to recuse himself. Berg’s trial is set down for later this month.
