News broke late this afternoon that a warrant had been issued for the arrest of Danville Walker the former Customs Chief.
The warrant was issued Wednesday in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.
The warrant came after Walker — who heads ATL’s retail division — missed his court date in a matter concerning the Office of the Contractor General.
Walker — who is charged with breaching the Contractor General Act — is said to have missed his last three court dates.
His lawyer however issued a statement on the matter
See Full Statement Below:
STATEMENT FROM KEITH BISHOP – LAWYER REPRESENTING HON. DANVILLE WALKER RE- ISSUING OF WARRANT BY THE COURT FOR HIS ARREST.
Earlier today, (Wednesday, January 25, 2017) it came to my knowledge that my client the Honourable Danville Walker was issued with a warrant for his arrest in a matter now pending before the Court.
I wish to state emphatically that on the three dates set by the Court, Mr Walker has been represented in Court either by myself or by representatives from my legal firm of Bishop and Partners.
In November of last year, the matter was brought to the Court before the judge who had part heard the matter involving Mr Walker.
On the November Court date, I had issues with both the date and the time the case was being heard but still managed to attend Court. A warrant was executed in November but was stayed until January 9, 2017.
On the ninth of January, I had a matter in the Circuit Court for trial. I then spoke with the prosecutor assigned to the case from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and we agreed that the matter should be adjourned. A date of January 25 was then agreed on by the parties concerned in the matter involving Mr Walker.
I publicly state that because of dealing with several other matters, I omitted to advise Mr Walker of today’s Court date. So, at no time did Mr Walker knowingly absent himself from Court. Further, I was informed that the judge who had part heard the case would not be in Court today.
An agreement was also struck with the DPP’s Office that the matter involving Mr Walker would be heard on February 20, 2017.
Today’s hearing and the subsequent issuing of a warrant was done by a judge who could not have proceeded with the hearing having regard to the fact that the matter was part heard before another judge. Attorney-at-law, Mr Andrew Graham represented Mr Walker in Court today.
Further, the matter of the warrant will be dealt with in short order.
I want to make it clear that Hon. Danville Walker has never knowingly made himself absent from Court and when he was unable to attend Court, he has been suitably represented by his attorneys of Bishop and Partners.
