In a Wednesday 2026 court ruling that has sparked public conversation around the misuse of legal process for personal conflicts, a cyberbullying charge against serving police officer Barry Flowers-Mai has been dismissed outright after the high-profile complainant, Ministry of Transport CEO Chester Williams, failed to show up for the trial he initiated. This dismissal marks the second time in less than a month that a cyberbullying case brought by Williams has been thrown out by Trinidad and Tobago’s judicial system.
Williams, a former national police commissioner, first brought the allegations against Flowers-Mai in the wake of alleged social media activity dating back to April 2025. He claimed the officer had used a digital platform to publish content that was obscene and personally degrading, a charge that Flowers-Mai has denied throughout the proceedings.
Delivering the ruling, Senior Magistrate Neeshad Mohammed did not mince words in criticizing Williams’ absence, calling the non-appearance a clear act of disrespect to the court. As a former top law enforcement official, Mohammed emphasized, Williams ought to understand the fundamental requirement of respect for judicial procedure, adding that the court would not allow itself to be weaponized as a tool to settle personal scores between public figures. “I cannot and this court will not be used as grounds for any personal vendetta,” Mohammed stated in his official ruling.
Speaking to reporters immediately after the ruling outside the courthouse, Flowers-Mai expressed relief at the court’s fair decision. He argued that the case had been brought against him purely out of personal dislike, noting that legal action should never be used to target someone just because a powerful public figure disagrees with their official administrative work. “If someone does not like you, you cannot bring him to court because they don’t like the way you administrate,” Flowers-Mai said. “Thank God the court is fair; they struck it out.”
The case’s dismissal adds to a growing pattern of failed legal actions initiated by Williams. Just six days prior on May 13, 2026, 38-year-old Nichole Gilda McDonald was rearrested and recharged on similar cyberbullying charges stemming from a critical Facebook comment directed at Williams. That same case had already been dismissed in November 2025 after Williams skipped 17 consecutive scheduled court hearings, only to be reinstated last Wednesday in a surprise procedural move.
Beyond the cyberbullying allegations, Flowers-Mai has also been publicly linked to the high-profile kidnapping case of social media personality Joseph Ryan Budna, who is currently incarcerated in a Guatemalan prison on separate charges. When reporters asked Flowers-Mai to respond to the kidnapping connection outside court, he declined to elaborate on the matter, emphasizing that mere association does not equal guilt. “I don’t want to comment on that as yet, because calling someone’s name does not mean the person is guilty… A day will come when I will address that one,” he added.