SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Following the vindication of one of two Rick’s Café Negril executives charged in connection with the controversial hosting of Mocha Fest, Queen’s Counsel Peter Champagnie is calling for equity in the prosecution of similar cases.

“With what is happening, I believe that the prosecuting authorities would be well advised to concentrate their efforts in terms of what is happening in certain parishes — Hanover and Westmoreland to be exact —where, really and truly in terms of the numbers, it is a nightmare in terms of the increasing number of COVID cases,” he argued.

“You can’t seek to single out one particular entity and vilify that particular entity without some kind of equity in the prosecution of other areas where, clearly, there have been breaches,” he added.

In May, Rick’s Café was allegedly found operating without a valid spirits licence, in addition to flouting the Tourism Product Development Company’s COVID-19 compliance regulations.

The breach led to the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management’s order that the property be shuttered for more than a week. The police later charged Financial Controller Conroy Barrett and Operations Manager Thomas Martin with a number of offences in connection with the issue.

Barrett, who was charged with breaches of the Spirit Licence Act and place of amusement licence, was found not guilty when he appeared in the Westmoreland Parish Court yeterday. However, Martin, who was slapped with an additional charge of breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act, is booked to return to court on September 10. It is anticipated that the prosecution’s file will be complete by then, paving the way for a trial date.

During court on Monday the prosecution conceded that, as financial controller, Barrett would not have responsibility for any breaches arising from the staging of the event. His attorney Peter Champagnie had initially put forward that line of defence at his first court hearing on June 22.

“On the last occasion when we went to court, I made some submissions that the prosecution could not mount a viable case against him based on the fact that he… did not have oversight of these matters,” explained the attorney. “The prosecution conceded that my submissions were correct and he was officially found not guilty.”