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Attorneys for television personality Ian Alleyne have rejected a request by lawyers representing San Fernando Mayor Robert Parris for a 28-day extension to respond to a pre-action defamation letter, describing the request as “illogical, unnecessary, and unreasonable.”

In a response on January 10, attorney Devi Ramnarine, who continues to instruct lead counsel Saira Lakhan on Alleyne’s behalf, took issue with the position advanced by Parris’s legal team that their client denies “each and every allegation” contained in the pre-action protocol letter.

Ramnarine said that, given the mayor’s blanket denial, there was no justification for an extended period to respond. She argued that a wholesale denial does not require further factual investigation, collation of documents, or prolonged review, as the issue was straightforward: whether Parris made or authorised the impugned social media post or not.