Police officer Marley Sebastien was charged last week with perjury and perverting the course of justice after testifying in the ongoing trial of interdicted police officers Simon Power and Pamphill Prevost, who are charged with conspiracy to steal, according to a statement last Thursday from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mr. Sebastien gave evidence under oath during the first trial of Messrs. Power and Prevost, which lasted from January through April 2019 and ended in a hung jury, the ODPP statement noted.
During a court appearance on Feb. 22 this year, the statement added, he gave evidence under oath that was contradictory to his evidence in 2019 and his witness statement given in August 2017.
Following a Magistrates’ Court hearing last Thursday, Mr. Sebastien accepted a bail offer of $40,000 with one surety and the condition that he surrender travel documents, according to his attorney, Richard Rowe.
While making the application for Mr. Sebastien’s bail, Mr. Rowe told the court that the evidence against him is weak, that he has a clean record, and that he is married to a Virgin Islander.
Crown Counsel Lyn Daley did not object to Mr. Sebastien’s bail, though she asked the court to impose conditions, including that he surrender travel documents and that he have no contact with the complainants, Mr. Rowe said.
CORRECTION, APOLOGY AND UPDATE: This article has been amended to reflect that Simon Power and Pamphill Prevost faced only one charge in their retrial this year: conspiracy to steal. The Beacon apologises for the error. On March 14, the High Court tossed out the case against Messrs. Power and Prevost after successful no-case submissions, though the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions announced on March 18 that it had appealed the decision.