THE Barbadian Attorney General says gun dealer Brent Thomas was not "abducted" from Barbados last year but he admits the officers had "fallen short of the law" during an operation where Thomas was arrested and returned to Trinidad.
In a statement in the Barbadian Parliament yesterday, AG Dale Marshall detailed the involvement of the Barbados Police Service in Thomas' case but rejected the ruling of a Trinidad and Tobago (TT) High Court judge finding that Thomas was "abducted."
He revealed for the first time how Caricom's Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (Impacs) – on a request from TT's Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) – organised the Regional Security Services (RSS) aircraft to bring four police officers to Barbados from Trinidad and take them back with Thomas on October 5.
"The TT High Court has characterised what transpired in Barbados on October 5th last year in relation to Mr Thomas as an “abduction.” That is unfortunate language," Marshall said.
Sunday Newsday reported the involvement of the TOCU, an elite unit operating out of the Ministry of National Security, in the capture and return of Thomas.
Marshall said he recognises the officers had "fallen short" of the law by acting without an extradition request.
"I, however, cannot associate myself with the description of the actions of the Barbados police officers as an abduction or as has been elsewhere been described as a kidnapping."
The description Marshall referred to was made by Justice Devindra Rampersad in a ruling on April 25. The judge presided over Thomas' claim against the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions. In his lawsuit, Thomas said his constitutional rights were breached. He also sued over the criminal charges against him.
Justice Rampersad stayed on the criminal charges against Thomas and found that the officers did not disclose the steps they took to bring him back to the country.
Rampersad condemned the police for their method of capturing and bringing Thomas back to TT. During the litigation, the State admitted that Thomas' return to TT was unlawful.
[caption id="attachment_1015231" align="alignnone" width="648"] Brent Thomas -[/caption]
Yesterday, as he documented the police action that saw Thomas taken from his Barbadian hotel room to the Grantley Adams International Airport, Marshall denied any knowledge of the incident before last week. He said Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley also did not know about the incident.
"Neither of us were consulted by anyone prior to or at the time when Mr Thomas was taken from Barbados in October of 2022. The first time that either of us became aware of any of the events relating to Mr Thomas was after the matter broke in the press in Trinidad just over a week ago. We simply had no knowledge nor involvement in this matter."
Marshall said this was not unusual as these types of matters do not fall under his or the Prime Minister's purview.
He said Impacs received the request from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU) of the TT
