By: Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Friday 8th April 2022) — Deputy Prime Minister and PAM Leader Shawn Richards has given the reason why he has been absent from Cabinet for about two months — stemming from his efforts to get his name removed from a police report relating to the Las Lap Bar incident of January 2022 in Bird Rock. Richards gave details while speaking at the party’s town hall meeting at Bummers Park in Conaree on Thursday 7th April 2022.
“I have said publicly that I have not gone to Cabinet for about eight weeks now, and I have not gone to Cabinet because I stand on a matter of principle. Nobody going use my name for political purposes for their narrow selfish political agenda. I will not allow it — and that is why I have not been going to Cabinet,” Richards said. He recounted his account of the night of January 8: he had gone to Las Lap Bar with a friend, stayed about an hour after arriving, said good night to police officers on his way out, drove home and went to sleep. He says he only found out later that anything had happened at Las Lap that night. “A day or two after that, I heard that my name is in the police report relative to this incident at Las Lap. Me name in police report? Well wha me name in police report for? Me nuh witness nothing at Las Lap,” Richards said.
He called the Police Commissioner who confirmed his name was in the report but told him not to worry after Richards pointed out he was not present for the incident. Despite multiple Cabinet meetings where Richards reiterated his concern, his name reportedly remained in the report. “I took a decision there and then that until this matter is cleared up, I am not coming back to any Cabinet meeting because if nobody gon stand up for my name, I gon stand up for my name myself,” he stated. On 8th March 2022, government minister and PAM Deputy Leader Lindsay Grant was charged by police with beating a police officer in the execution of her duties and assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duties.