Former Chief Magistrate Mc Nicholls dies at age 57

File: Sherman Mc Nicolls

Former Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls died Friday at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex. He was 57. He was being treated for chronic lymphoid leukaemia.

Mc Nicholls was involved in a number of high-profile matters during his career, including the controversial execution of Glen Ashby, who was hanged for murder in 1994 while his lawyers were before the Appeal Court asking for a stay of execution and the Privy Council was also simultaneously granting a stay. 

As Chief magistrate he convicted former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday on a charge of failing to disclose a foreign bank account to the Integrity Commission aand sentenced him to two years in prison. Panday challenged the ruling in the Privy Council and won.

Mc Nicolls was also a key figure in the controversy surrounding former Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma. He accused Sharma of trying to influence the outcome of Panday’s trial.

He was the principal accuser in the criminal case against Sharma but did not appear in court, which led to the case against Sharma being dropped. He later appeared before a disciplinary committee of the Judicial and Legal Services Commission for refusing to be cross-examined in the Sharma case.