Attorney Nirvan Singh has lost his bid to have the criminal proceedings against him stayed, in which he is accused of unlawfully and maliciously assaulting former Police Constable Shawnette Bollers.
According to a press statement from lawyer for Bollers, Eusi Anderson, the Full Court yesterday ruled in favour of his client, that the private criminal charge she has brought against Singh will not be stayed.
Singh had applied for a stay of the proceedings against him in the Magistrate’s Court, pending the determination of the appeal.
Last year, Bollers’ case attracted public outrage with her allegations of racial hostility against the attorney.
In April 2022, she instituted private charges against Singh, whom she accused of unlawfully exciting or attempting to excite racial hostility or ill-will towards her.
Those charges were, however, discontinued by the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) whose contention it was that it was not consistent with Section 2 of the Racial Hostility Act.
Anderson recalled that a month later, his client then filed a second charge against Singh for unlawful and malicious assault.
It was against this charge that Singh sought to have the fresh proceedings against him stayed, advancing that they arose from the initial charges which had been withdrawn by the DPP, thus amounting to an abuse of the court’s process.
The Magistrate hearing the new charges ruled against Singh, that the matter would proceed.
It was against that ruling that he appealed to the High Court to have the proceedings stayed.
Anderson said in his release that Justices Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and Simone Morris-Ramlall, who heard the matter in the Full Court, refused Singh’s application after finding that it was premature.
According to Anderson, having examined the submissions and evidence of both parties, the Court said it found Singh’s appeal to have been premature with no prospects of success; and in the circumstances refused the stay.
He said that the court went on to award $50,000 in cost to his client.
“This is the second unsuccessful attempt by the Applicant (Singh) to prevent a Magistrate, from hearing the evidence of Shawnette Bollers that he unlawfully assaulted her, using racially charged language and conduct,” Anderson declared in his press release.
Background
The new charge against Singh states that on March 20th, 2022, at Middle and Cummings streets, Georgetown, he unlawfully and maliciously assaulted Bolllers.
Bollers has filed a defamation suit against the attorney.
In her statement of claim, she has said that while on duty at the home of his father, retired Chancellor Carl Singh on the night of March 20th, the accused approached and chased her off the property.
She said that the incident occurred at approximately 22:13 hrs that night and she was forced to immediately abandon her post and duties, having to walk for a couple of miles to another location “in the dark of night alone.”
Bollers also said that Singh in a “loud and aggressive” manner berated her for about quarter of an hour, then began using a series of defamatory words and racist expressions.
Singh has said the conduct alleged by Bollers does not reflect his philosophy or personal values.
“More importantly, it would be an indictment on my parents and elders, given their efforts to ensure that my upbringing would produce in me a person of the highest moral, ethical, and professional conduct,” he said in a statement.
News of the alleged incident had sparked widespread public outrage and condemnation against Singh.
