Manning back home; faces legal issue in case brought by private citizen

File: Newsday photo of Manning leaving for the US

Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning returned home Tuesday night from the United States where he was undergoing treatment for a stroke he suffered at his San Fernando home in January.

He was welcomed by members of his San Fernando East constituency but the national executive of the opposition People's National Movement (PNM) was not involved. PNM Leader Keith Rowley was not invited to greet his former leader.

On the day of his arrival, the appeal court ruled against Manning in a legal matter involving a private citizen who claimed that when Manning was Prime Minister in 2009 he used annoying language against her.

That charge was dismissed by former Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicholls. However the appeal court ruled that Mc Nicolls improperly exercised his discretion, which they said was done in an "ad hoc and arbitrary" manner. The court reinstated the matter and ruled that since Mc Nicholls has now retired the matter must be heard before another magistrate.

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