On DPP advice…
THE joint charges against Supreme Court Registrar Sita Ramlal and Major General (ret’d) Norman McLean, will remain indictable, on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Police Inspector Denise Griffith, prosecuting, gave the indication to Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday, when Ramlal, 58, of Lot 2 Bel Air and McLean, 74, of Lot 277 Forshaw Street, Queenstown, both in Georgetown, made another Court appearance.

The Prosecutor said a preliminary inquiry (PI) would be held into the charges and a lengthy exchange took place, between Griffith and Defence Counsel Nigel Hughes, on which Court will be assigned the cases.

The lawyer requested that the transfer be to a Court presided over by a senior magistrate not very burdened.

As a result, the magistrate transferred the cases to Court Two for August 24, when Ramlal and McLean will make their next appearance.

Meantime, they remain on the same $510,000 and $340,000 bail, respectively.

Particulars of the joint offences charge them with having:

* between December 10, 2004 and March 18, 2009, with intent to defraud, conspired with each other and persons unknown to forge a judicial document, an adoption order in respect of a child, purporting to show that it was ordered on December 14, 2000;

* between December 10, 2004 and March 18, 2009, with intent to defraud, conspired with each other and persons unknown to forge a judicial document, an adoption order in respect of a child, purporting to show that it was issued on December 10, 2001;

* between June 18, 2004 and March 18, 2009, with intent to defraud, conspired together and with unknown persons to forge a certain judicial order in respect of a child, purporting to show that it was dated August 10, 2000 and

* between June 1, 2004 and March 18, 2009, with intent to defraud, conspired together and with persons unknown to forge a certain judicial order, an affidavit in support of a summons statement by Lynette McLean, a consent parent, for an adoption application in respect of a child, an authority of attendance of a report from the Adoption Board and a consent of parent or guardian form in the matter of the adoption.

McLean alone faces two more, separate forgery charges, which allege that:

* on February 17, 2005, with intent to defraud, he delivered, to Dawn Britton, a forged process of Court justice, that is to say an adoption order in respect of a child, dated December 14, 2000 and

* on the same date, with intent to defraud, he delivered, to Leota Langford, a forged process of Court justice, that is to say an adoption order in respect of a child, dated December 14, 2000.