Former Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith’s defamation claim against Social Media Blogger Rhoda Bharath has been dismissed.
Mr. Griffith, was pursuing damages arising out of two publications of the Newsauce blogger . The posts were published on February 3rd, 2021 and on February 4, 2021 and referred to the handling of the Andrea Barath murder case and the subsequent deaths of 2 suspects while in police custody.
On Thursday High court judge Carol Gobin ruled that both publications contained the Defendant-Ms. Bharath’s subjective and honest opinion on the death of suspect Andrew Morris while in police custody. The judge said having seen Ms Bharath and assessed her credibility as a witness, her criticisms of the Claimant Mr. Griffith as Head of the TTPS were not aimed at him personally nor were they intended to hurt him personally.
Mr. Griffith was ordered to pay the costs of the action. This was not the only lawsuit that the former commissioner filed against Ms Bharath. Mr. Griffith is also claiming defamation of character based on a post on her Newsauce Facebook page on July 18, 2023.
Source: TTT News
