Senior Reporter
jensen.lavende@guardian.co.tt
Attorneys representing Dillian Johnson, a former manager at the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA), are asking a magistrate in the United Kingdom to dismiss a case brought privately by WASA against Johnson even before it goes to trial.
Johnson appeared in a Wales magistrate court on Thursday to answer a charge under the Communications Act, for social media posts made between 2022 and 2023 about an ex-employee and another worker at WASA.
Johnson was issued a summons on June 25 to appear in court on July 3.
According to the investigative editor at Wales Online, Conor Gogarty, Johnson offered “no plea” when he appeared before district judge Sophie Toms.
By offering no plea, a defendant tells the court that he or she does not wish to plead either guilty or not guilty.
However, Johnson’s attorney Scott Tuppen asked that the case be thrown out on the basis that it was an abuse of process.
He claimed WASA does not have the authority to bring a private prosecution in Wales, adding that for it to be so, the offence must be prosecutable in Trinidad and Tobago.
“The argument is whether a foreign government can bring what would be a public prosecution in its own country through the private prosecution system in this country,” an article quoted Tuppen as saying.
Johnson will re-appear in court on November 8, by which time legal submissions will be heard.
A two-day trial was set for November 19 and 21.
If found guilty, Johnson faces a prison sentence of up to 12 months, a fine, or both, under the Malicious Communications Act of 1988.
If found guilty of an offence under the Communications Act, 2003, he will be sentenced in the magistrates’ court and may receive a prison sentence of up to six months or a fine.
In an interview with Guardian Media in June, WASA chairman Ravindra Nanga confirmed legal proceedings were initiated.
He said then: “I can confirm that this is accurate. These are criminal matters, and this action was taken following complaints by employees of extreme cyberbullying. As it occurred in England, we took the decision to pursue the matter in the interest of the authority’s employees.”
The case had cost WASA $300,000 up to June this year, as the authority hired UK law firm JMW Solicitors LLP.