Wade Smith wins Breach of Trust case against gov’t
Wade Smith has been cleared of a breach of trust charge after the High Court ruled that the curfew order at the centre of the case was unlawful.
King’s Counsel Terrence Williams said the case raised many legal issues and explained that Smith was brought before the court under dubious circumstances. “It was a flimsy charge,” Williams stated. “And it was a pity the state persisted in the matter. It was obvious that it was a flimsy charge.”
Smith was placed on immediate leave in 2023 following charges of breach of trust as a public officer. “He was charged for breach of trust concerning an allegation that he did not act properly regarding the case of a boat operating during the curfew,” Williams explained.
However, the court upheld submissions that the 2020 curfew order, which restricted movement in territorial waters, exceeded the powers granted under the Curfew Act.
Williams said the defence argued that the charge was based on an unlawful order. According to Williams, the Curfew Act permits restrictions on street movement, but the order extended those restrictions to territorial waters. The High Court agreed with the defence’s submissions.
He added that, as a result, the committal was quashed. “So you could not, therefore, bring a criminal case for breach of trust regarding the order,” Williams stated.
Williams further noted that the case depended on the validity of the curfew order. “The judge, the learned judge, quashed the committal… because the case depends upon an unlawful order. And so therefore, she threw the case out,” he said.
The attorney also confirmed that no other criminal matters remain before the court for Smith. “The state has no more cases against him. That was the only case that they brought against Mr Smith, and it has now come to an end,” he stated.
With the ruling delivered, Williams said the defence will await the state’s next move. “There is no basis now to suspend or to interdict him from office,” Williams stated. “I would expect the state to do the proper thing. But if it is that they don’t do the proper thing, then of course our client will have to be advised as regards his legal rights.”
The court ordered that costs be paid to Smith in relation to the matter.
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The DPP needs to be fired! Anyone could see that her decision to bring these cases after the COI was influenced by other forces and she did not consider what was just and right before bringing criminal cases. Then when she is defeated at the magistrate level she appeals or seek judicial review to double down on her ignorance. I hope every last person file a suit against the government. It is embarrassing. You smeared the names of Najan Christopher, Wade Smith and Myron Walwyn for no good reason except some white people with their own agenda held a COI for whatever reason? She has a duty to do what is right and not what others expect of her. If she was a proper lawyer she would have known that there was no case for these individuals to answer but it was not about justice. It was about helping to sell a created narrative. There must be consequences for this.
Why would anybody in Government want to fire the incompetent DPP until she has lost all of the UK politically motivated CoI prosecutions. It does not serve their interest to have a competent DPP.
If the criteria is to have an extraordinarily incompetent DPP, then the current DPP is overly qualified.
I beg to differ. Have you ever considered the internal hurdles the DPP faces with these cases? Everyone and their ancestors know what W is allegedly involved in and both he and especially N.C were in breach of trust. The burden of proof just solely relies on the DPP to prove and therein lies the challenge. N.C smeared her own name. She took a risk, knowing what she did was wrong, on behalf of a criminal head of state. Any other government would have taken action. You see, we only seek approval in the court of public opinion-for us, this is where ‘truth’ matters; and we end up paying the price for it, reflected in the vicious cycle of doom in perpetuity. The BVI will only get progressively worse with the criminally-indoctrinated mindset we have. We must be the change we seek. Only the truth will set us free.
so will everyone else that was charged or fined or confined and stopped using the territorial waters during covid be compensated , this just opens a bag of worms, but glad the guy will be back to his job as he should of never been removed.
Another wild goose chase
2026… It’s Coming Down. This is just the Beginning. Much More to Come. Less Money for Parties and Music Fests. Sunny Friday Morning But Gloomy Atmosphere. Stay Tuned…
How many more cases must Tiffany lose? The girl has no shame with her incompetence.
Another episode in the reality tv series titled “Prosecutorial Ineptitude” starring TSE.
Stop giving Tiffany a bad name she is doing what is right for all virgin Islanders by not applying her wits to the case, she ain’t stupid to destroy these good families because she got instructed by the white UK to do so.
I know it is a part of our culture to blame everybody else for our failures. And while I don’t know who the DPP is, I’ve certainly read along about her level of competence. That said though this thing about white people with their own agenda held a COI for whatever reason. Please help my confusion here. I thought it was well documented that the Premier asked the Governor to hold a COI and the Governor, upon his departure, complied with the request. Granted the UK people involved were white. But I’m not sure you can get away from that. My confusion may be in that if you ask the UK to conduct a COI you are inviting white people to conduct it. If the Premier invited them to come here and conduct it whose fault is that?I get that we are picture perfect and somebody else is always the bully in the school yard. But really people? I thought the responsibility for the COI was a slam dunk and pretty obvious. This is a perfect example of be careful what you ask for as you may just get it.
One for the people and 0 for the imperialist. Well done!
Why are crackers so conceited and petrified of truth?
They always up in here painting any comment that points them out witrh a negative brush. Why?
Congrats Wade on the win! Hope you are fully compensated in all aspects.
How he win? The case got thrown out
She might as well move by Big B’s. An absolute joke
Sue the pants off the UK. Don’t hurt our local treasury lol
So the Government imposed Curfew was unlawful!! Where else in the world could that happen!! The DPP charged on the evidence of the breach of the curfew – she was right.
Who writes the laws? Lawyers/AG or Ministers?
Off on technical legal reason. Don’t mean he ain’t guilty as hell.
Guilty of what you fool! We are just a set of people who like bad for each other then we turn around with our hypocrisy saying bvi love. Before you be happy that a brother who was wrongfully accused got free you are wishing the worse for him. We are a mentally sick set of people.
Look back for all those years and foolish with Hunt to have us replace with a UK national.
Foy put you and the Port lady in these position strategically for his corrupt and criminal intent can be easily accomodated….Foy is a real soldier, he ain’t bending, he ain’t ratting, he ain’t selling out, he standing strong..So be sure to safe half your salary for him when and if he gers out..