Last Updated on December 4, 2019, 2:49 PM AST by Anthony Morris
The directive for police constable Lennox Hodge to be arrested and charged on September 20, 2018, was given by a high-ranking official in the Office of the Prime Minister hours after the Ceremonial Parade at Warner Park on the morning of September 19, 2018.
A source on condition of anonymity said the meeting took place between a “high high ranking official in the Office of the Prime Minister and a law enforcement person on Independence night.”
It was Constable Hodge’s off-day on September 19, 2018 and he travelled to SKN and used the specific occasion to drive Dr Denzil Douglas to the Independence Parade to mark St Kitts and Nevis’ 35th Anniversary of Independence at Warner Park.
The huge praise got by Dr Douglas from the group as he advanced toward the vehicle toward the finish of the Parade exasperated the Office of the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Office of the Attorney General and an examination was quickly requested into how Dr Douglas was permitted to get the official caravan together with different dignitaries including the Governor General, Prime Minister, Chief Justice, Appeal and High Court judges.
Later, after the ceremony, Hodge returned to Nevis on Wednesday night, September 19, 2018.
“A meeting was held that very same evening and the instructions were given by the high, high official in the Office of the Prime Minister to arrest and bring charges against officer Hodge,” said the source who provided the names of the individuals who met on September 19.
On Thursday 20 September 2018, Hodge was mentioned to come back to Basseterre and report to the Traffice Department at the St Johnston Police Station.
Hodge, with 17 years of administration in the Royal St Christopher and Nevis Police Force, was then taken to the Basseterre Police Station where around 5 pm he was presented with a Warrant for his capture on the supposed charges.
His legal counselors mentioned bail, yet even station bail, which is typical, was denied and Constable Hodge was held in a jail cell at the Basseterre Police Station in full police uniform from the evening of Thursday twentieth September 2018 to the morning of Friday 21st September, 2018. Without being managed a shower and a difference in garments, Constable Hodge was taken under the steady gaze of the Magistrate’s Court where he was allowed EC$10,000 bail. He was quickly suspended and put on half-pay.
After several court appearnces and adjournments, the case against Hodge was dismissed by Senior Magistrate, His Worship Mr Reynald Benjamin on November 19, 2019.
During his presentation on the failed Term Limits Bill in the National Assembly last Friday, 29th November, Dr Douglas commenting of the rule of law, recalled the shabby treatment of Hodge who was denied bail and allowed to sleep on a bench in a police cell in his police uniform and then was taken to the Magistrate’s Court on the morning of September 20, 2018.
“That is not right,” said Dr Douglas, to which Prime Minister Harris responded: “If you did not want him to sleep on the hard bench you could have put a bed there.”
Dr Douglas said it was unfair to officer Hodge to be on suspension at half pay for 14 months only for the charges against him to be dismissed.
He accused Dr Harris “of being arrogant, vindictive and selfish.”
Since the dismissal of the charges in the Magistrate’s Court on November 19, 2019, Hodge has not returned to duty.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
