Lawyer hits State fast-tracking of cases

“Well, speak to the Parliamentarians about it,” Senior Magistrate Annette McKenzie bluntly replied.

Phillips made her complaint while speaking in the Scarborough First Court where her client Stewart Anthony Thomas appeared on Monday charged with assaulting German national Hans Slatler, occasioning actual bodily harm.

The incident is alleged to have taken place at Lucy Vale, Speyside in East Tobago on February 13. The charge was laid by PC Ashby Jack of the Charlotteville Police Station. When the case was called, the magistrate indicated she was ready to proceed with the court having been informed at the first hearing last week that the victim was due to leave Tobago today.

But Phillips objected, explaining that she was not ready to start the matter as she had not been properly instructed by her client, with whom she had so far been unable to discuss the case. The magistrate however, noted that at his appearance last week, she made it clear to Thomas that hearing in the matter would start on Monday.

The victim, a businessman, told the court he visits Tobago three to four times per year and usually spends about three weeks on each occasion. “I am a visitor, but my family owns property in Tobago. I live in Germany and my business is in Germany,” Slatler said.

He said he could not give an exact date as to when he would return to Tobago following his departure today. “The defendant is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and he will always be here, he isn’t going anywhere and while we try to accommodate foreigners, he (the victim) is not a visitor in the true sense of the word,” Phillips submitted.

In response, the magistrate asserted that, “there are people, defendants, who come to the court and deliberately try to delay matters of this nature. I am not for one minute saying this of Mr Thomas.”

Thomas was subsequently remanded on continuing bail of $25,000 with surety that must be approved by the Clerk of the Peace. Hearing in the matter was set to begin yesterday.