WESTMORELAND, Jamaica – One of two Rick’s Café Negril executives charged with a number of offences after the hosting of  the controversial Mocha Fest in May, in breach of COVID-19 regulations, has been freed.

Financial controller Conroy Barrett was found not guilty when he appeared in the Westmoreland Parish Court on Monday morning.

Barrett had been charged with breaches of the Spirit Licence Act and Place of Amusement Licence but the prosecution conceded that, as financial controller, he would not have responsibility for any breaches arising from the staging of the event. His attorney Peter Champagnie first put forward that line of defence at his first court hearing on June 22.

Meanwhile, Barrett’s colleague and co-accused, Thomas Martin, the operations manager for Rick’s Café Negril, 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 that the prosecution file will be completed, hence paving the way for a trial date.

Rick’s Café, which was established in 1974 by Richard “Rick” Hershman, was allegedly found to have been operating without an updated Spirits Licence, in addition to flouting the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) COVID-19 compliance regulations.

The breach led to the closure of the property for over a week by order of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management.

–Anthony Lewis