(Trinidad Express) The man charged with two counts of attempting to murder a British couple with a cutlass while they slept at their idyllic Tobago home was on Monday freed of the charges.
The crime made international headlines and had threatened to destabilise the tourism industry in the sister isle.
Senior Magistrate Annette McKenzie, presiding in the Scarborough Magistrates’ Court, ruled that the case against Clint Alexis, the man accused of attempting to murder the tourists, be dismissed for want of prosecution.
And the victims, Peter and Murium Green, have already accepted that their accused attacker, Clint Alexis, was the wrong man before the court.
In an e-mail response, moments after Monday’s court decision, Peter Green, stated: “Both my wife and I must accept that the accused was not guilty and, thankfully, an innocent man will not be incarcerated for a crime he did not carry out. However, after 20 months of e-mails, being told by the Trinidad and Tobago police they had good evidence, being accused by the police of being underhanded, being constantly informed that the investigating officer was a man of integrity, we are stunned.”
Peter Green said the real perpetrator has gotten away with this heinous crime and has had all this time to do so.
“I believe the T&T police force has been grossly negligent from day one. They left our villa unsecured so it was robbed. Eric Jenkinson, UK High Commissioner (to Trinidad and Tobago), visited our villa and found it unlocked and made a complaint to the T&T police in Scarborough. We will of course seek legal advice,” he added.
Green, who along with his wife, made international headlines last December, over the delay in getting compensation from the state for injuries which have left them scarred and traumatised, said he will also be going to the United Kingdom press on the matter.
The matter of compensation is currently before the Criminal Compensation Injuries Board.
Magistrate McKenzie, who had fixed the matter to proceed on three previous occasions, was on Monday presented with a medical certificate which in effect stated the Greens were unable to travel to Tobago to testify based on their traumatic state, and a request was made for them to give evidence via video conferencing from England.
Police prosecutor Sgt Dunstan Campbell, when questioned by the magistrate about the medical certificate, said the matter was out of his hands.
The document, dated March 30, presented to the court from the Wellington Medical Centre, located in Somerset, England, bore no signature, even though the name Dr J Stuart Wayne was printed on it.
Defence Attorney Larry Williams objected to the certificate.
In response, McKenzie called on the prosecutor to call his first witness, but as he was unable to do so he offered no further evidence.
The matter was then dismissed.
“Well I’m happy for Mr Alexis, that the matter is finally at an end and I hope at the end of the day, that justice was done,” Williams told the Express in a later interview.
