NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Six former employees of the Children’s Emergency Hostel were arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court today on charges of cruelty to children. The women appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt. Eloise Canter, 53; Carmetta Woods, 47; Natasha Pratt, 46; Occonelle Gordon, 25; and Sabrina Smith, 61, were charged with 11 counts of cruelty […]
Tag: court
Fake lawyer representing inmates to join clients in prison
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A woman who forged a Bahamas Bar Association identification to fraudulently represent and visit inmates at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDOCS) will now join them as a resident of the facility on Fox Hill Road for the next 15 months. Warnika Russell, 25, of Zion Boulevard, was charged with two […]
All five Court of Appeal judges will preside over appeal of citizenship ruling
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — All five judges of the Court of Appeal will sit to hear an appeal against a historic Supreme Court ruling that children born out of wedlock to foreign women and Bahamian men are entitled to citizenship at birth. The Office of the Attorney General has appealed the ruling in the “public’s interest”. Attorney […]
Man charged with murder
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Cleso Rolle, 27, appeared before Magistrate Samuel McKinney today charged with the January 3 murder of Deandre Thompson. Police said on the day in question, officers responded to a shooting incident at the intersection of Sapodilla Boulevard and Willow Street in Pinewood Gardens, where they found a man’s bullet-riddled body slumped over […]
Appellate court denies Nygard more time to appeal contempt order
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Court of Appeal has denied Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard additional time to appeal a contempt order for breaching a Supreme Court injunction. In November 2019, Justice Ruth Bowe-Darville had sentenced Nygard to 90 days’ imprisonment and fined him $150,000 for breaching an injunction order granted in February of that year by Justice Keith […]
GB teacher charged with indecent assault
FREEPORT, GRAND BAHAMA — A 63-year-old teacher has been charged with indecent assault of female students at a Grand Bahama high school. Reynold Christopher Robinson, of #3 Creswell Drive, was today arraigned before Deputy Chief Magistrate Debbie Ferguson in Magistrate‘s Court for indecent assault. Robinson pleaded not guilty to the charge and was granted cash […]
MP’s brother-in-law charged with assault and threats of death against him
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Alexander Williamson, the brother-in-law of Central and South Eleuthera MP Hank Johnson, was arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court today in connection to an altercation involving the MP and his “female friend” on January 16. At the time of his arrest, Williamson was granted $1,500 police bail. He appeared before Senior Magistrate Carolyn […]
Sky Bahamas chief pushes back against “swindling” claims
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Sky Bahamas’ former chief executive, Captain Randy Butler, has refuted claims by the airline’s former financier that he “swindled” the company out of millions of dollars. Businessman Fred Kaiser claimed that Butler, the former airline executive, “bilked” insurers and pocketed millions from selling engines off-market, according to court documents. Kaiser, a permanent […]
Detained asylum seekers sue govt. for freedom
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Attorneys for a group of asylum seekers, who have been detained by the Department of Immigration, have filed a writ of summons seeking immediate release from the detention center. The writ, filed by Calenders & Co on January 20, 2021, claims that the plaintiffs fled their countries due well-founded fear of persecution by […]
Court of Appeal sets aside $6,000 unfair dismissal award of former BPL cashier
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Court of Appeal has set aside an Industrial Tribunal’s unfair dismissal award of $6,068 to a 25-year veteran of Bahamas Power and Light (BPL), who had been terminated for “lewd sexual activity” in the company’s cashier’s cage. Simone Fitzcharles, the Industrial Tribunal’s vice president, had ruled last year that Sherry Jennifer […]
Govt. withdraws request for $200,000 in cost in BPC court matter
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The government has withdrawn its application for security for costs in the Supreme Court during a hearing for the judicial review of its approvals for Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) to drill for oil in The Bahamas. Attorneys for the government submitted, during the hearing before Supreme Court Justice Petra Hanna-Adderley, that the […]
COA dismisses govt. appeal of Sewell case
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Court of Appeal (COA) has dismissed the government’s application for leave to appeal out of time against a Supreme Court Ruling in favor of Jamaican national Matthew Sewell. It comes after a years-long legal battle over his false imprisonment. In September, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Sewell, and awarded […]
Seven migrants charged with illegal landing; Bahamian charged with harboring them
GRAND BAHAMA, BAHAMAS — The Department of Immigration said yesterday that seven Haitian migrants were charged with illegal landing and one Bahamian man was charged with harboring them on Wednesday, January 13. The group of migrants, including six men and one woman, was apprehended onboard a motor vessel by immigration officials on Sunday, January 10, […]
Four men arraigned for separate murders
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Four men were arraigned in Magistrate’s Court today on charges connected to three of the country’s latest murders. All of the men appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes. Kenneth Cummings, 31, was charged with the December 8 murder of Vincent Knowles Jr. Police said they received reports that shots were fired […]
Appeals court rules it was not “competent” for lower court to revise drug sentence
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The appellate court yesterday advised magistrates that once they have convicted and sentenced a defendant, they may no longer exercise jurisdiction over the defendant in the same case and the matter must go before a superior court. The statement came in a judgment concerning Stanley Adam Pratt’s appeal of his July 2019 […]
Some 90 Haitian nationals face illegal landing charges
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — More than 40 Haitian nationals appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt in the Magistrate’s Court on Long Island on charges of illegal landing. The interdictions followed two operations involving immigration and defense force officers in Clarence Town, Long Island, and Mars Bay, Andros. According to the Department of Immigration, another group of […]