tidings
Junior Barrington Thomas. The Law Society has demanded what police say are false academic qualifications which Thomas submitted to be admitted to practice as a solicitor. –
The Law Society of TT (LATT) has filed a criminal complaint against opposition activist and radio host Junior Barrington “Skippy” Thomas. She is calling on police to investigate what she says are false academic qualifications that Thomas submitted to be admitted to practice as a solicitor.
The complaint, dated August 19, a copy of which was obtained by Sunday Newsday, was submitted to Acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob and outlines a series of events between April 13 and May 19, detailing LATT’s efforts to verify a degree of presented by Thomas. from a reputed UK university.
On April 13, Thomas, 47, applied for a certificate of fitness from the LATT, which is required to be admitted to the list of lawyers “duly qualified to practice law” at the TT.
As part of this process, for people taking law degrees in the UK, LATT must obtain evidence that the applicant has completed a legal practice course at an institution accredited by the Law Society of England and Wales.
Thomas submitted a graduate degree in professional legal practice from Colston University dated June 16, 2016, according to the complaint.
Questions were raised during the verification process and LATT sought a legal opinion on the matter.
Then, on May 13, LATT was notified by e-mail from a High Court assistant registrar that Thomas was seeking to be admitted to practice law in TT through a petition to the High Court without a certificate of competency, and the case was listed for hearing the same day before Judges Joseph Tam and Sharon Gibson.
LATT president Sophia Chote, SC, and Kavita Roop Boodoo, an association legal officer, attended that hearing and the matter was adjourned to allow the association to complete its investigation into Thomas’ qualifications.
During the investigative process to verify the authenticity of the degree from Colston University, the association made inquiries with the UK Solicitors Regulatory Authority, which provides a list of all institutions authorized to offer legal practice certificates.
According to the complaint, “LATT conducted an examination of its records to determine if any previous applicants had submitted a Colston University-issued legal practice certificate, but found none. Further inquiries were then made to the UK Department of Education, the Office of Students and an online degree verification service Prospect Hedd, but LATT was still unable to verify that Colston University was a registered institution properly or that he was authorized. to issue the legal practice certificate.”
According to the complaint, on May 19 the association contacted the president of the Law Society of England and Wales and received a response on May 27 from Richard Jones, the Law Society’s engagement manager (Wales) supporting its position.
LATT said Colston University’s Twitter page @ColstonUniversity1 “looks at first glance like an established institution and the photos used on the Twitter page are stock photos. The Twitter account refers to coronavirus information released by the Welsh government while Colston University claims to be based in London.
Jones said in his opinion “being a qualified document examiner with the UK Home Office, that the certificates that were issued by LATT, (albeit a low resolution black and white scan) appear to be forged” .
A Google search for Colston University leads to a Twitter account, opened in February 2021, with an image of two buildings and a coat of arms dated 1998. It says “Welcome to the official Colston University Twitter profile. Follow to be updated with what’s new with us.”
TT Law Society President Sophia Chote, SC, attended a High Court hearing on Junior Barrington Thomas’s petition to be admitted to practice at TT without a fitness certificate. – FILE PHOTO/JEFF MAYERS
A Google search of the Twitter account’s London address – 182-184 High Street, London – appears to be a service address rather than a university campus. Colston University joined February 2021 with only 221 followers. The last tweet was dated April 13, 2021.
On its Facebook page, Colston University on May 7, 2021 says:
Do you want to get a University Degree from Great Britain? Clicking on the url, a message says the domain “may be for sale”.
A post attached to the link says Buy University Degree with an accompanying website buybritishdegree.com, but after clicking the link a message says “This page does not appear to exist”.
The social media site describes Colston University – https://colstonuniversity.co.uk – as “a world leader in modern distance learning education”.
In a post dated March 6, 2021, the university refers to the spring semester differently from the term as other UK universities use. There are no posts earlier than March 6, 2021.
Sunday Newsday learned that in light of the findings, LATT submitted an affidavit detailing its efforts to verify the authenticity of Thomas’ degree in response to the petition he filed seeking admission to practice at TT. The court then dismissed the motion, although Thomas’ attorney tried to withdraw the case.
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LATT, through its secretary Bijili Lalla, called on the Acting KP to investigate to determine if there were any criminal charges and submitted all the supporting documents it had collected during its investigation.
Reached for comment on his cell phone on August 25, Thomas said: “This is the first I am hearing about those matters and until I am properly advised on those matters, I have no shortage of lawyers and we will respond appropriately and if something is written that is not properly substantiated or is defamatory, of course the court is there to deal with those matters.”
Asked if he had applied for a fitness certificate, Thomas said he had already given his comments on the matter and repeated his earlier comment. He said that when he is officially informed, not by the reporter, he will address it at that time.
He later said the allegations were “baseless” and the questions put to him “were full of misinformation.”
Thomas said LATT “was inviting me back into the arena after making a conscious decision to stay away and stay quiet.
“After I speak to the police, if they come to me, the police will be a very busy organization in relation to the Law Society.”
He claimed that the association “never told me what the issues were. This is the first time I am hearing it from a journalist. He who claims must prove, and I am not at all concerned about that.
“And the battle will only last until the last man stands.”
Thomas said he filed a complaint June 8, as a civic-minded citizen and not on behalf of the KBB or its political leadership, seeking an investigation by Attorney General Reginald Armour, SC, into his role in a US multimillionaire. Civil action for forfeiture of dollars against persons accused in the Piarco Airport corruption case.
In May, a US judge in a Miami court disqualified Armor and the US law firm hired to represent TT in the case because of Armour’s previous role as a defense lawyer for former government minister Brian Kuei Tung, one of the defendants in the Miami case.
Jacob on August 26 said he had received the complaint from LATT and that it had been forwarded to Acting Deputy Commissioner Wendell Williams for action.
