Nightclub manager, staff freed of 2021 covid19 regulation charges

More than two years after staff of the Residence nightclub at One Woodbrook Place were charged with breaches of public health ordinances, a Port of Spain magistrate discharged them.

It was one of the most extensive raids during the height of the covid19 pandemic, when police swooped down on the club on January 25, 2021, breaking the chain lock to the basement door to get in.

A video of the raid was uploaded to police social media accounts on January 25, 2021. It showed officers entering through the basement area and several people were seen lying on the ground in the nightclub on their stomachs with their hands over their heads, some handcuffed, while police with long rifles stood guard.

The raid made front-page news, with former police commissioner Gary Griffth saying the law would be applied to all, irrespective of ethnicity, gender, geographical location, and socio-economic background.

On Thursday, magistrate Keriann Byer discharged the club's senior manager Steven Marhue and eight members of his staff, upholding no-case submissions on their behalf for some of the charges, and finding them not guilty on the others.

Along with Marhue, manager Keegan Knights; bartenders Colleen Hargraves, Xavier Samuel and Jorge Brown; security officer Sean Thompson; and DJs Jervais Roberts, Aaron Boodram and Giovanni Phillip were also charged.

They were also discharged by Byer.

Marhue had been slapped with four charges of selling, or providing alcohol, to dine-in customers; being found in a public place where the number of people gathered exceeded ten; exceeding more than 50 per cent service for dine-in customers; and causing the establishment to be open to the public at 11.30 pm after authorised hours.

The others were charged with offences relating to the sale of alcohol and being in a public place where the number exceeded ten. Officers charged nine of the alleged 90 people found at the Residence that night.

In a press release issued immediately after the raid, police said at the time of the arrests, the public health ordinance regulations stated:

• Section 4 (1) (d) says it is an offence to hold a public party or public fete;

• Section 3 (1) (a) says it is an offence for someone to be found at a public place where the number of persons gathered, at any time, exceeds ten;

• Section 4 (4) (d) says it is an offence for a restaurant, bar, or establishment, to sell or provide alcohol to its in-service customers.

The release also said on the night of January 4, 2021, Griffith was “alerted to a party at the nightclub where more than 100 persons had gathered.”

It said he spoke with senior officers in the Western police division, and officers co-ordinated an exercise, blocking both the front and back entrances of the nightclub.

“Police entered the establishment and detained all the patrons, most of whom live in upscale areas of north Trinidad.

“Most of the patrons were placed in the police detention bus and taken to the St James Police Station.”

The evidence led by the police before the magistrate said when they entered the establishment, they heard loud music and saw a large gathering of about 90 people inside. They also saw opened bottles, cups and glasses on countertops.

At the close of the State’s case, defence attorneys for the nine advanced no-case submissions and pointed out that the regulations, at the time, did not contain a definition of the term “public place.”

In upholding the no-case submissions on the charge of being found in a public place where the number of persons gathered exceeded ten, Byer dismissed those charges. In her ruling, she noted the lack of a clear definition of “public place,” and determined that the Residence was not considered one on the night in question.

She also said there was no evidence that the bottles, cups and glasses contained alcohol, as their contents were not tested, nor was there evidence that any of the nine provided anyone with alcohol, so these charges were also dismissed.

Marhue was made to answer the charges of exceeding the 50 per cent dine-in customers limit and having the establishment open to the public at 11.30 pm. His attorneys relied on their submissions and he was found not guilty of those charges. Marhue did not give evidence.

Marhue was represented by attorneys Keith Scotland and Jenna Mapp; attorney Brent Winter represented Phillip; and the other seven were represented by attorneys Vikash Indar Lal and Vashisht Seepersad.