Thorne criticises PM for comments on dismissed Kadooment Day shooting case

Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne has accused Prime Minister Mia Mottley of dangerously overstepping her authority by publicly commenting on the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions’ (DPP) decision to drop charges in a high-profile criminal case.

“The prime minister has no right to intervene, neither publicly nor privately, into decisions taken by the Director of Public Prosecutions,” Thorne told reporters on the sidelines of Wednesday’s St James North by-election. “The DPP has sole and exclusive authority in relation to the initiation or termination of criminal offences before the court.”

At a political meeting on Sunday, Mottley questioned the decision to discontinue charges against several individuals accused in the 2017 Kadooment Day shooting, and said the country owed an explanation.

Thorne, who, like Mottley, is a Senior Counsel, stressed that the DPP is a constitutionally independent officer who “owes no explanation to anybody” except the courts under legal review.

“When a Prime Minister begins to question the decision of the DPP to stop a case, that crosses a very dangerous line,” he warned. “Prosecutions must be saved from political consideration.”

Acting DPP Alliston Seale subsequently issued a statement in which he said that explanations were given when a prosecutor from his office went to inform the court of the withdrawal of the case.

He said this particular case was “fraught with prosecutorial challenges”, including the death of one of the accused, complainants unwilling to testify, lack of cooperation from eyewitnesses, and refusal of witnesses to attend identification parades. (SM)