Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has publicly raised pointed questions with Director of Public Prosecutions Clement Joseph over the unusually swift discontinuation of high-stakes criminal cases centered on illegal firearms, ammunition and narcotics. In his public remarks, Browne argued that courts, not prosecutorial offices, should be given the opportunity to deliver final rulings on these serious criminal matters.
Browne stopped short of naming a specific case that triggered his critique, nor did he detail what led him to raise the issue publicly. However, his comments emerged just days after the DPP’s office ordered an end to a prominent firearms prosecution involving two defendants, Shiloh Martin and Wayne Knowles.
On Wednesday, Chief Magistrate Ngaio Emanuel formally dismissed all charges against the pair, acting on the direction from Joseph to end the prosecution. The case against Martin and Knowles stemmed from a targeted police raid carried out at a private residence in Liberta on October 16, 2024. Prosecutors had assembled evidence including two recovered weapons – a Taurus .40-caliber pistol and a Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun – along with associated ammunition, extended magazines, and four ballistic vests.
During the early-morning operation, law enforcement officers took several additional individuals into custody, including three minors. All of those detained beyond Martin and Knowles were later released without any charges being filed. Warren Cassell served as legal counsel for Knowles, while Damian Benjamin represented Martin in the proceedings.
To date, there has been no official confirmation that Browne’s critical comments were specifically aimed at the discontinuation of the Martin and Knowles case. The prime minister also did not reference either defendant by name in his public statement. Instead, his intervention has opened a broader conversation about transparency and decision-making in prosecutorial handling of serious violent crime-related cases across the country’s judicial system.