Lawyer gets restraining order against stalker

A SAN Fernando attorney yesterday obtained an order from a High Court judge restraining a woman from stalking him. Justice Carol Gobin granted a consent order against the woman, who lives in San Fernando, restraining her from pursuing her attorney Kevin Ratiram, 30, for a personal relationship. The woman, who was a client of Ratiram in a case in which he represented her in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court, ordered by Justice Gobin by consent in the Chamber Court in  San Fernando, to be restrained from contacting, telephoning, visiting, harassing or molesting Ratiram. Justice Gobin’s order, legal sources said yesterday, was the first of its kind in which a woman was restrained by the High Court from pursuing her attorney for a personal relationship. Ratiram stated in court documents that when his client first visited his law office, she told him that she had seen him “starring” in the local soap opera Westwood Park.

Ratiram, who is featured in a role in Westwood Park and also appears in a number of television commercials,  pleaded in court documents filed in the Sub-Registry in San Fernando, that the woman had been writing him love letters and telephoning him. At restaurants like the Tree House in St Joseph Village and Jenny’s Wok on Victoria avenue, San Fernando, Ratiram stated, he was harassed by the woman. And when he joined the Opposition United National Congress’ 2003 general election campaign, the woman also found herself smack in the middle of activists. “On May 26 2003, the woman’s matter in the magistrates’ court came to an end and I was relieved, hoping this was the end in my dealings with her,” Ratiram stated. According to Ratiram, however, it was the beginning of a series of incidents in which the woman sent him offensive messages, voicemail and letters.

“I told her outright that I do not have personal relationships with my clients,” the attorney stated. Ratiram stated in an affidavit that he retained attorney Carol Cuffy Dowlat and Chaitram Sinanan to commence proceedings against the woman, but this was met by a complaint from the woman’s attorney, Kamla Persad Bissessar, in which her attorney enquired whether it was he who was harassing the woman. Ratiram stated that he is very concerned about his reputation and had no choice but to seek an application for libel against the woman. The court documents were served on the woman last week. When the matter was called, an attorney acting for the woman put in an appearance. The woman agreed by consent that she would not pursue Ratiram for a personal relationship. Justice Gobin also ordered that the woman undertake to restrain herself from pursuing Ratiram or conducting any similar slander.