A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has been sent to Attorney General Reginald Armour SC in relation to a report by former justice Stanley John into a missing file related to a malicious prosecution case involving nine men who were charged for the kidnapping and murder of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul Coolman in 2007.
The request was sent by Attorney at Law Ganesh Saroop representing nine men charged with the kidnap and murder of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul-Coolman. Saroop is representing Shervon Peters, Devon Peters, Anthony Gloster, Joel Fraser, Ronald Armstrong, Keida Garcia, Jameel Garcia, Marlon Trimmingham and Antonio Charles.
The men, along with Earl Tremmingham, Raphael William, Allan “Scanny” Martin, and Lyndon James were charged for Naipaul-Coolman’s kidnapping and murder. Saroop said after a full trial on May 30, 2016, a jury returned a not guilty for all his clients.
A retrial was ordered for James and Trimmingham (Earl), William and Martin who are deceased
Saroop on May 29th , 2024 filed a claim on behalf of his clients against the Attorney General for damages for malicious prosecution in relation this matter. The state filed no defence against this claim, which is where the controversy surrounding the missing file arose. On February 1, 2023, Armour held a news conference to indicate that a file in this matter had “disappeared.”
Saroop added that Stanley John, who was appointed to investigate this matter, indicated last February that the file in question was handed over to the acting Solicitor General Karleen Seenath and the “reappearance” of the file formed part of his continuing investigation.
Last March, Saroop said, Armour disclosed that he received an interim report from John regarding the disappearance of the file.
The contents of that report, he continued, were never disclosed to the court, public or his clients. Saroop said during a sitting of the Senate on September 9, Armour said he would not disclose the contents that report.
Saroop contended that his clients waited for more than a year for AG Armour to analyse the report and disclose it to them, so they could make the necessary representations to the court.
The AG did not comply and because of this he was forced to file for the FOI regarding the contents of the report.
Against this background, the FOI request was filed. The request seeks a copy of the Stanley John report into the missing file to be provided to Saroop.
The request also seeks for the copies of all invoices filed by the Office of the AG and Legal Affairs in relation to the investigation into the missing file, be provided to Saroop. Saroop added: “The AG’s actions risk eroding public confidence in the justice system and government as a whole. If citizens believe that key legal failures are deliberately hidden, they may lose faith in the state’s willingness to safeguard their interests.”