File photo of murder accused Patrick Thompson leaving the Manchester Parish Court. (Photos: Kasey Williams)
Manchester ‘candlelight vigil shooter’ denied bail
Defence heading to Supreme Court with appeal
MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Lawyers representing Patrick Thompson — the licensed firearm holder who is accused of killing two women and injuring three others in February — are heading to the Supreme Court in their quest to secure bail for him.
This follows a decision by judge Monique Harrison to deny Thompson bail when he appeared in the Manchester Parish Court for his fourth appearance on Monday.
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Harrison cited the points made by the defence and prosecution in court on April 2 in arriving at her decision and ordered Thompson remanded.
The judge pointed out that Thompson’s car and house were stoned following the February 23 incident. She also pointed to the defence’s statement on April 2 outlining that Thompson had options for accommodation far away from Manchester.
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Harrison also pointed to the prosecution’s grounds for denying bail regarding the serious nature of the charges against Thompson and the frequency of gun-related violence in the once peaceful parish of Manchester before saying, “Bail refused”.
After bail was refused, one of the two defence attorneys, King’s Counsel Peter Champagnie, informed the court of his intention to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.
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Champagnie later told journalists outside the court that there are grounds for an appeal.
“The decision of the court must be respected, but also any accused has the right, in these circumstances, to appeal the decision of a court that has so found. Therefore, we will be invoking that right, and notification was given and the reasons were supplied, but we are nevertheless respectful of the court’s position, but we will seek to have it tested elsewhere in the Supreme Court in terms of bail,” said Champagnie.
“We are of the view that based on the decision and the reasoning behind that there is a basis for an appeal and we have notified the court of that intention,” added Champagnie.
He pointed out that there was still no word on a critical piece of video evidence that has gone “missing”.
“There has been absolutely no update and it is very coincidental, it is an affront actually to common sense, where in such circumstances of the 13 clips the one that is supposed to show exactly what happened is missing,” he said.
The prosecution told the court that it is still awaiting the post mortem report, which is expected to take another three weeks to be completed as well as a ballistic report. The matter is to be called up on July 2 for case management.
On April 2 Champagnie had told the court that the defence maintains its position that Thompson was attacked and provided a medical document and photographs showing chest injuries to his client following the incident.
Thompson, otherwise called “Big T” or “Thommo”, an engineer of Levy Lane in Manchester, was charged with two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder, two counts of wounding with intent, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of assault at common law, two counts of possession of firearm and ammunition with intent to commit injury, and using a firearm to commit a felony, following the incident on Levy Lane on Sunday, February 23.
Those killed were identified as 42-year-old Stacy-Ann Mulgrave of Barnstable District, Manchester, and 46-year-old Ann-Marie Hanson of Caledonia Road, Manchester.
A police report said about midnight, Thompson was at a candlelight vigil when he and a man got into an argument over a motor vehicle accident.
The argument escalated, attracting a crowd. It is alleged that Thompson, who is a licensed firearm holder, opened fire at the crowd, hitting multiple people before leaving the area. The injured persons were taken to hospital where Mulgrave and Hanson were pronounced dead and the others admitted for treatment.
