Ray John Case to proceed to committal stage as defence submissions fail

The case involving suspended Superintendent Ray John and his co-accused, Shakema Charles will more than likely be sent up to the High Court for trial next week.

This is because Magistrate Dexter Wason dismissed no case submissions made by their lawyers in the Magistrates’ Court.

Lawyers for John and his former partner Charles were doing everything possible to prevent a conviction for passport fraud.

Their attorneys had filed submissions to have the case dismissed or tried in the Magistrates’ Court rather than the High Court.

The two, charged in connection with a major passport scam, were previously cleared of all criminal charges in March when Justice Tunde Bakre dismissed the charges, ruling that the law does not permit conspiracy to be tried by a judge alone.

However, their victory was short-lived as they were recharged and brought back to the St. John’s Magistrate’s Court to restart the legal process.

John and Charles are again jointly accused of conspiring with Vincentian resident Lonzel Jones to create fake passport bio pages using unauthorized Multi-Layered Infilling Sheets.

With the no case submission now rejected, they will go through committal proceedings on January 29 after which they will await a date to be arraigned by a High Court Judge.