Captain Branford free to fly again

St. Lucian born airline Pilot Shane Branford was on Friday 30th December freed of the charge of being in possession of counterfeit notes.

The matter commenced in June 2005. It was adjourned on several occasions in order to accommodate two overseas experts based in Puerto Rico.{{more}}

Branford who was granted bail in June 2005 maintained his plea of not guilty and never missed a Court date.

At the hearing on Friday, Court prosecutor, Inspector Straker informed the Court that he was not handling the matter and the prosecutor who was involved initially was not present and he could not justify the reason for such absence. Branford’s Lawyer, Nicole Sylvester objected strenuously to the granting of another adjournment, “this is an abuse of process, I was scheduled to be out of this jurisdiction but I remained in the state to deal with this matter, it is very important, and given the effect it is having on my client”, Sylvester further stated “the Defence were not informed that the prosecutor would be absent today, this is a lack of courtesy and this is an indication, or it would appear that they control the Court. No Prosecution, No Application, No Adjournment.” Another member of Branford’s legal team who addressed the court, Ronald Marks, agreed with Sylvester and stated “I had to leave the first meeting of the Senators to attend this case, that is how important it is, furthermore, the prosecution’s case is extremely weak, the evidence of their expert does not meet the criteria set out for such, an adjournment would mean further delay.” Magistrate Carl Joseph agreed with the Defence team and the matter was dismissed.

Branford was told “you are free to go.” A smiling Branford left the Court with his lawyers and is scheduled to return to the Aviation industry where he has worked for the past fourteen (14) years.