Point Fortin mayor Clyde Paul pleaded not guilty yesterday when he appeared in court not far from his office at the Borough Corporation charged with drunk driving. Paul, 72, was granted $5,000 bail. He was charged on Tuesday night and appeared before Point Fortin magistrate Alicia Chankar.
The charge did not specify by how much the mayor allegedly exceeded the limit but the police report stated when he was stopped and administrated the breathalyser test he allegedly recorded a reading of 95 microgrammes.
The legal limit is 35 microgrammes. Paul was heading towards San Fernando in his Nissan Suv along the Southern Main Road, Rousillac, when he was stopped around 8 pm during a police road traffic exercise at Grant Trace Junction, Rousillac.
He was represented by attorneys James Phillip, former commissioner of police James Philbert, Deryck Dindial, an alderman at the Borough Corporation, and another attorney.
Phillip asked for disclosure. Court prosecutor, Cpl Larry Singh, said the charging officer, Sgt Gosine, was not in court and he was not in a position to make any disclosure at that point.
Singh said the prosecution had two witnesses, PC Ramkissoon and Woman Sgt Cato. The magistrate allowed Paul’s bail to continue and adjourned the matter to November 2 for disclosure.
Paul was sneaked through a restricted area of the courtroom which leads to the adjacent police station to avoid the members of the media who were waiting outside the courtroom.
Hours before his arrest the mayor would have chaired the last statutory meeting of the council as its statutory life ends tonight.