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A High Court Judge has per­ma­nent­ly stayed the pros­e­cu­tion of a 62-year-old man, ac­cused of mur­der­ing a one-year-old ba­by dur­ing a do­mes­tic dis­pute with her grand­moth­er and moth­er in 2021, af­ter pros­e­cu­tors sought to with­draw a plea deal for a less­er of­fence.

In a rul­ing de­liv­ered late last week, Jus­tice Nali­ni Singh found that the move by the Of­fice of the Di­rec­tor of Pub­lic Pros­e­cu­tions (DPP) in Neville Si­mon’s case was an abuse of process and of­fend­ed the core prin­ci­ples of fair­ness.

Jus­tice Singh said: “To per­mit the State now to re­sile with­out ju­di­cial sanc­tion would erode con­fi­dence in the plea process and in the in­tegri­ty of pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al com­mit­ments.”