Close to three years after he was charged with assaulting his colleague at the Forensic Science Centre, St James, Dr Hughvon des Vignes was yesterday cleared of the charges.
Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar discharged the doctor under Section 71 1(a) of the Summary Courts Act which states that the court can find that the case was proved but based on the accused antecedents and other extenuating factors dismiss the matter.
It also means that there would be no conviction recorded against Des Vignes’ name.
Des Vignes first appeared in court on March 28, 2014, after the offence allegedly took place on December 2 the previous year.
He was accused of assaulting Prof Valery Alexandrov who was smoking in a working area.
In coming to her decision, the Chief Magistrate took into consideration the circumstances surrounding the commission of the offence and des Vignes’ previous good character.
Des Vignes, who was represented by Israel Khan SC, was then freed. In May 2008, des Vignes was also found not guilty by magistrate Adrian Darmanie of assaulting then former pathologist Dr Neville Jankey, at the Port-of-Spain General Hospital. That charge arose out of an incident which allegedly took place on August 23, 2006.