Kriss' body was discovered by a cyclist in March 2004

A motion to adjourn was granted by judge Lord Uist, following a request by David Burns QC, representing Imran Shahid.

Mr Burns said it was beyond his control that some witnesses had not appeared at the High Court in Edinburgh.

Mohammed Faisal Mushtaq, 27, Zeeshan Shahid, 29, and brother Imran Shahid 29, deny racially motivated murder.

Mr Burns told jurors certain steps had been taken, and would be taken after the adjournment, "to attempt to secure their (witnesses) attendance".

Witnesses called by Imran Shahid's defence team earlier told the court of a number of sightings of silver cars in Glasgow on the day Kriss was snatched.

There were three on the back seat. One person had his hand on the middle passenger's head Mary Budd

Mary Budd, 32, a project worker with the Simon Community in Glasgow told how she was waiting for a bus in the city's Gallowgate that evening when a car drove slowly past with a jacket blanking out one of the windows.

It was going so slowly - heading from the city centre towards Parkhead - she thought the men might have been drinking.

She said that inside were five people and she thought the driver was Asian and wearing a black hat.

"There were another three I thought were Asian and one I thought was white" she told the court on Tuesday.

"There were three on the back seat. One person had his hand on the middle passenger's head. I thought they were carrying on."

Previous evidence

She said she took the car to be a Mercedes. "It looked expensive. It was silver. It was quite large" she said.

The court heard that Ms Budd gave evidence at the trial two years ago when Daanish Zahid was convicted of Kriss' murder - and she picked him out as the driver of the car she saw in Gallowgate about 1945 GMT on 15 March 2004.

Student Bushra Khan, 25, told how she was in Pollokshields that afternoon when Asian men in a silver car began to annoy a friend walking with her.

The court heard that she later made a statement to police, telling them Baldy and Crazy - nick-names used by Imran Shahid and his brother, Zeeshan, 29, - were not in the car.