The Tribune

By LETRE SWEETING

Tribune Staff Reporter

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Court of Appeal has granted Lincoln Bain permission to appeal its decision supporting a Supreme Court order that he repay monies on a failed investment.

Sir Michael Barnett, president of the Court of Appeal, ruled on May 25 that Mr Bain and Bani Shoe Warehouse, a business on Mackey Street partially owned by Mr Bain, can appeal the court’s decision in support of the Supreme Court decision to the Privy Council. Sir Michael said although the appeal might be “meritless”, the applicants have the right to appeal to the highest court.

“We are of the view that the appeal is meritless,” Sir Michael’s ruling said. “It is settled law that the Privy Council will not overturn concurrent findings of fact by a trial judge and a Court of Appeal save in exceptional circumstances.

“With some hesitation, we do not consider that the proposed appeal falls within the category of an abuse of process. As the claim meets the monetary threshold of $4,000.00, we grant leave to appeal to the Privy Council on the usual terms and conditions. The applicants are given 90 days to prepare the record.”

Recapping the case, Sir Michael said Zinnia Rolle allegedly signed an agreement on April 23, 2010 for Mr Bain to hold $40,000 of her funds in a trust for three years. Interest at ten per cent was to be paid annually, with an option for Mr Bain to invest these monies on her behalf if she wanted this. The plaintiff claimed she never exercised this option and that Mr Bain never returned what amounted to $64,000 with interest.

In a second contract dated May 4, 2010, Ms Rolle became a partner in Bani Shoe Warehouse. It was expected that she would supply the establishment with merchandise and would receive 30 per cent of all sales, but she did not receive money from this business deal.

Mr Bain and his legal team, which includes attorneys Tanya Wright and Maria Daxon, maintain that the $40,000 given to Mr Bain was to acquire the children’s shoe department of Mr Bain’s business. They deny receiving any funds for investment. They further claimed that in November 2010, Ms Rolle ceased to operate the kid’s shoe business after a fire.

In 2021, Justice Cheryl Grant-Thompson ruled in favour of Zinnia Rolle, ordering Mr Bain to repay Ms Rolle $64,000.

Mr Bain appealed that ruling to the Court of Appeal last year. The court upheld the Supreme Court’s decision. However, Sir Michael condemned the length of legal proceedings under Justice Grant-Thomson as a “blight on the administration of justice” and struck down the ruling that Bain repay the $64K by February 28, 2022, or risk a 90-day prison term.