Mr. Pierre
A libel suit brought by Member for Parliament for Castries East Philip Pierre against the Mirror newspaper over a letter it published in April 2011, has been thrown out.
The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court’s Judge Rosalyn E. Wilkinson, at a sitting on Monday, threw out the case.
The matter, which named Guy Ellis, the paper’s editor at the time, the Mirror Publishing Company and Mayers Printing Company as defendants, was dismissed following the failure of Pierre or his lawyers to show up for the trial.
A press release states that this decision came in response to a submission by counsel for the defendants Leslie Prospere to have the matter thrown out because of the non-appearance by either Pierre or his legal representatives, Peter Foster and Associates.
“Prospere lamented that neither had given the court the normal courtesy of an excuse for their absence. The judge upheld Prospere’s submission that the case be thrown out, as well as another that all three defendants should be awarded costs,” the release said.
It stated that the case arose out of a letter published by the Mirror which was submitted by the Castries East branch of the United Workers Party (UWP) that called on Pierre to explain the construction of a concrete wall and grill along the boundary of his private property at Water Works Road using public funds.
This was said to have taken place after the then UWP administration of Prime Minister Stephenson King had initiated a Constituency Development Programme and invited members of parliament to recommend three projects for government financing in each constituency, following the passage of Hurricane Tomas in October 2010.
According to the press release, the letter claimed that there were people in East Castries who had suffered as a result of the hurricane and accused Pierre of looking after his personal needs ahead of those of his constituents. The main thrust of the letter, however, was its call on Pierre to explain his actions to the public.
Pierre had sought damages including aggravated damages for libel, interest and costs. He claimed that the letter had accused him of “selfishly and or corruptly” expending tax payers money on his property and that his personal and professional reputation had undergone “extreme embarrassment and hurt feelings” as a result of the publication. He also claimed to have suffered odium, ridicule and contempt.”
Commenting on the outcome of the case, Ellis, who retired from the Mirror in November 2011, said he was not totally surprised by the turn of events.
“One can only speculate about the reason why Pierre failed to turn up in court to defend his good name. Our speculation is that he had finally come to the realization that he would have lost given several uncontested facts of the case,” he said.
Although happy that the matter was over, Ellis said he would have relished a trial victory so he could have dedicated it to the entire media community in St Lucia that had recently been at the receiving end of attempts at humiliation and denigration by political figures.
Guy Mayers, managing director of both Mirror Publishing and Mayers Printing, and an unsuccessful opponent of Pierre in the 2011 general elections in Castries East, said he was happy that the case was over.
“It is now for Mr. Pierre to answer the people of Castries East on the question they asked in the first place: Why was a wall along the southern boundary of his home (private property) and a grill over the drain leading to his driveway, that cost the tax payers over EC$70,000 more of a priority than the pressing needs of so many poor people all over the constituency who were affected by Hurricane Tomas?” he asked.
Prospere represented the firm of Gordon, Gordon and Company and was assisted by Jahn Siflet.