PETER Champagnie — attorney-at-law representing embattled financial controller of Rick’s Café, Conroy Barrett — says his client is pleased that charges laid against him have been dropped in the Westmoreland Parish Court yesterday.

“My client is vindicated as a result of this morning’s proceedings. He has always maintained that the day-to-day operations of the entity, such as covering an amusement licence and spirit licence, weren’t in his jurisdiction. I presented evidence of this to the prosecution which led to them not continuing with the charges. It points to the fact that due diligence was not exercised in this matter,” Champagnie told the Jamaica Observer yesterday.

Barrett had been charged with breaches of the Spirit Licence Act and Place of Amusement Licence following the staging of Mocha Fest at the Negril-based tourist hot spot on May 27, 2021.

Meanwhile, Barrett’s colleague and co-accused, Thomas Martin, operations manager at Rick’s Café, was slapped with an additional charge of breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act. Martin is slated to return to court on September 10, by which time, it is hoped, the prosecution file will be completed, hence paving the way for a trial date. He is also being represented by Champagnie.

Champagnie also argued that Martin has been unfairly targeted.

“There has been a number of other parties since then [May]. Those seem to have gone without prosecution. I wish to make the point clear that there needs to be equity when dealing with these sorts of things. You cannot crucify one entity,” he said.

Hundreds of tourists attended the four-day festival held on Negril’s West End. It drew outrage from members of the public as events of this nature had been banned since March, the year before. The Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) insisted that no permission had been given for Rick’s Cafe to host the event and said that the popular spot would have been sanctioned.

It was slapped with a seven-day closure sanction and the Tourism Product Development Company Ltd also revoked the entity’s COVID-19 compliance certification due to the violation.

Richard “Rick” Hershman — principal of Rick’s Café, established in 1974 ­— has since expressed regret and apologised for hosting the event.

Since that incident Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced a partial reopening of the entertainment industry after a 16-month suspension. It was made effective on July 1.