Protest interrupts Volney's show

Two dozen placard-bearing protesters invaded a meeting of the United National Congress (UNC) in St Joseph Monday night as former High Court judge Herbert Volney was making his maiden speech in which he launched a scathing attack on the Manning administration and slammed Attorney General John Jeremie for interference in the Judiciary.

The message in the placards was a demand for Volney to explain why he directed a jury to free Brad Boyce in a murder case killing 19-year-old Jason Johnson in 1996.

"Now we have some citizens who are walking with posters, they don’t even know what they are doing. But they are entitled to exercise their constitutional rights and I stand for their rights. So let them pass in peace and let them be gone!" he shouted.

But while he accepted the rights of the protesters, whom he described as CEPEP workers paid by the PNM to do it under threat of dismissal from their jobs, he was not amused at the lack of a police presence.

"These people are committing conduct that could cause a disruption of the peace. And that is a criminal offence. And I call on the police officers to have them removed now!" he said.

"Ignore these people and listen to me," he said as he tried to restore order, adding that "from May 25 I will listen to you."

He did not respond to the group on the matter they raised. "They want to know why I freed Brad Boyce. They won’t hear it tonight. They would hear it another night. Let them go. I have more important things to deal with tonight...I speak with the Holy Spirit and I speak with the winds of change in my back," he declared.

However he did speak on judicial matters, including what he called the harassment of former Chief Justice Sat Sharma and the murder case against Prof. Vijay Narayansingh and his wife.

Volney said he directed the jury in the Narayansigh case to end the matter after he discovered that the evidence before him was not good enough to make a case. He accused Jeremie of fabricating a case using the evidence of confessed killer Shawn Parris because Jeremie wanted "something big".

He said Jeremie is a political termite who has been undermining the judicial system.