THE TOURIST in whose case Resident Magistrate Carol DaCosta had reversed her decision after she had fined him $20,000 for unlawful wounding was allowed to go free when he appeared in the Port Maria Resident Magistrate's Court on January 23.
When Robert Cordell, a 40-year-old British national, appeared in court the Resident Magistrate granted a 'no order' on the request of the complainant, hotel executive Richard Burrowes. The no order means that the complainant does not wish to pursue the case against Cordell.
Cordell had pleaded guilty when he first appeared in court on January 13. He was fined but the Resident Magistrate, after adjourning court to take a telephone call, returned saying she could not accept the guilty plea.
TELEPHONE CALLS
She said in court that she had received a telephone call from the Chief Justice who said he had been informed that RM DaCosta was letting go a tourist while the complainant was still in hospital and that there was going to be a disturbance in the parish.
After reversing her order, the Resident Magistrate offered Cordell bail and ordered him to surrender his travel documents to the police.
The Chief Justice said last week that he had nothing to do with the Resident Magistrate's decision to reverse her ruling.
After RM DaCosta granted the 'no order', the lawyers representing the parties announced that there was going to be an out of court settlement. The lawyers did not disclose the amount being offered in compensation to Burrowes. Cordell, who was a guest at the Boscobel Beach Hotel, St. Mary, had wounded Burrowes, the hotel's food and beverage manager, during a dispute on January 12 at the hotel.
