In a judgment released today, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) dismissed Mr Pedro Ellis’ appeal against the refusal of the courts in Barbados to grant him bail. The CCJ had granted Ellis special leave to appeal since at the time it granted leave, he was still in detention and the Court was mindful of the great delays in hearing Ellis’ applications for bail, as well as the overall delay in his trial of the charge. However, Ellis was no longer in detention when his appeal would have been heard.
Ellis was charged on 8 May 2013 and his trial concluded on 25 October 2019 when he was acquitted of murder with the jury failing to reach a verdict on manslaughter. Ellis was released from detention and has since been a ‘free man’. The issues which had been raised for consideration by the CCJ had, therefore, become merely academic and no exceptional circumstances arose warranting the Court to still hear the appeal. In the circumstances, the Court dismissed the appeal.