[UPDATED] Jack to pay more for defaming Faaiq

 Jack Warner
Jack Warner

FORMER Independent Liberal Party (ILP) chairman Jack Warner has been ordered to fork out substantially more in compensation to deputy Chaguanas mayor Faaiq Mohammed for an attack on his character in 2013.

In a 73-page written decision, in which they all agreed on the increase in the quantum of damages and exemplary damages for Mohammed, Justices of Appeal Peter Jamadar, Gregory Smith and Prakash Moosai ordered Warner now to pay a total of $650,000. Interest is to be added to the amount, which could see the final award reach $1 million.

Mohammed, who is also the councillor for Charlieville, was represented by attorneys Anand Ramlogan SC, and Alvin Pariagsingh. Warner was represented by Keith Scotland, Asha Watkins-Montserin and Jacqueline Chang.

Warner had accused Mohammed, who was an ILP councillor in the Chaguanas Borough Corporation, of accepting a $2.5 million bribe to vote for a United National Congress (UNC) candidate for the post of presiding officer during the corporation’s first meeting.

The former ILP chairman also threatened to “deal with” Mohammed and ensure that “his political career is finished.” Mohammed was immediately expelled from the ILP.

In 2014, after Mohammed filed a defamation claim in the High Court, Warner conceded liability at the trial, despite, as the appeal court judges described it “the conscious, intentional, wilful and relentless defamation of the appellant by the respondent over a continuous period of seven days,” and “in circumstances where no offer to apologise or apology has ever been made.”

“The effects on the appellant’s reputation were immediate, destructive and long lasting,” Jamadar said in the decision.

After his concession, Justice Vasheist Kokaram ordered Warner to pay Mohammed $220,000 in compensation.

Mohammed appealed, and yesterday, the three appellate judges held that Kokaram’s award was “disproportionately and excessively low having regard to the particular and undisputed egregious circumstances of this case.”

“They increased the award to a total of $650,000 for general and exemplary damages.
Warner was not in court when the decision was delivered.

In their decision, the judges found Warner’s conduct to be “oppressive.”

“It was outrageous by any standards, even given the permissiveness of the local political gayelle. It was oppressive. It was intended to both ‘advantage’ the appellant, and gain political advantage for the respondent,” Jamadar said in the 73-page decision.

He also added that the methods of attack on Mohammed’s integrity revealed a “vitriol and intent that is easily inferred and adjudged to be deliberately malevolent.”

“It is true that in TT, political and public life opens one to robust and, at times, severe criticism, even condemnation.

“This a necessary and acceptable virtue in a vibrant democracy. Indeed, it is to be encouraged. I venture to say this is so in any truly democratic society, and TT is not unique in this regard, except for the idiosyncratic way in which it is done and the peculiar language and expressions used to do it,” Jamadar said.

He continued, “However, the political gayelle, though a place of hard hitting bois and even of ‘buss head,’ is still not an arena that permits the unwarranted and unjustified or malicious defamation of character. The law simply does not permit this…There are boundaries…Context is everything.”

Yesterday’s decision was one of Jamadar’s last judgments in the Court of Appeal, as he is set to take up a position as a judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice in July.

And although all three judges agreed on increasing the quantum of damages, Smith and Moosai provided additional commentary in the decision as it related to the need to expand the category for an award for exemplary damages.

This story was originally published with the title "Jack to pay more to Chaguanas deputy mayor for attack on character" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.


FORMER Independent Liberal Party (ILP) chairman Jack Warner will have to fork out a little under $.4 million more to pay to former Chaguanas councilor Faaiq Mohammed in compensation for the attack on his character.

Mohammed, the deputy mayor of the Chaguanas Borough Corporation, was accused of taking a bribe by Warner and in 2014, Warner was ordered by a High Court judge to compensate Mohammed in the sum of $220,000.

Mohammed appealed the quantum of damages and in a unanimous decision delivered this morning, Justices of Appeal Peter Jamadar, Gregory Smith and Prakash Moosai increased the amount to a total of $650,000. Interest will be added from the date Mohammed filed his claim.

Warner was not in court when the decision was delivered.

In their decision, the judges found Warner’s conduct to be “oppressive.”

“It was outrageous by any standards, even given the permissiveness of the local political gayelle. It was oppressive. It was intended to both ‘advantage’ the appellant, and gain political advantage for the respondent,” Jamadar said in the 73-page decision.

Mohammed, who was an ILP councilor in the corporation, voted for a United National Congress (UNC) candidate for the post of presiding officer during the corporation’s first meeting in 2014.

Mohammed, the councillor for Charlieville, claimed he was immediately expelled from the party by Warner, who then made defamatory statements about him, accusing him of taking a bribe.

Warner admitted defaming the expelled ILP member and accepted liability in the case and Justice Vasheist Kokaram who presided over the defamation claim gave his decision on the quantum of compensation.

Mohammed was represented by attorneys Anand Ramlogan,SC, and Alvin Pariagsingh, while Warner was represented by Keith Scotland, Asha Watkins-Montserin and Jacqueline Chang.

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"[UPDATED] Jack to pay more for defaming Faaiq"

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