January 25, 2024, marks the day when St. Michael Northwest Member of Parliament Neil Rowe will appear in the High Court to manage his rape case.
The Speaker of the Assembly’s Deputy The accusation against His Honor is that, on September 18, 2022, he engaged in sexual activity with a lady without getting her permission or recklessly assumed that she would have given consent.
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Rape cases in Barbados are indictable, therefore a judge and jury will sit in on the case at the High Court level.
In Barbados, the Magistrate’s Court is where all criminal cases begin. The matter was first heard by Magistrate Deidre McKenna in October 2022 at the Oistins Magistrate Court. Attorneys Roger Forde KC and Safiya Moore represented Rowe on his initial court appearance.
Judge McKenna referred the case to the High Court during the most recent instance, which took place in September 2023 in the Oistins Magistrate Court. Attorneys-at-law Michael Lashley KC and Ralph Thorne SC continue to represent the current MP both then and now.
After the High Court manages the matter, the trial will start.
Rowe was chosen to serve as Deputy Speaker of the House following the resignation of former St. George North Member of Parliament Glynne Clarke in November 2020.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley stated on October 25, 2022, that the parliamentary team will convene to propose Cynthia Forde as the new Deputy Speaker, less than twenty-four hours before police made public the rape complaint against Rowe. At the annual conference of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP), the revelation was revealed. Still, Rowe kept showing up as the Deputy Speaker after that. As of the time of writing, the Justice of Peace and MP has not resigned from any of his positions of authority under this administration.
