Former Head of Chambers Tony Gifford QC has been appointed as leading counsel for the Office of the Public Defender at the West Kingston Inquiry, which is now sitting in Kingston, Jamaica.
The inquiry is examining the events of May 2010, when the Jamaican military and police carried out a massive operation in Tivoli Gardens in order to execute an arrest warrant for the extradition of a local “don” Christopher “Dudus” Coke. Seventy-five civilians and one soldier were killed during the operation. The Public Defender, Jamaica’s human rights ombudsman, received hundreds of complaints of unlawful killings, injuries, abuse and damage to property. Former Prime Minister Bruce Golding testified at the Inquiry, which is chaired by former Chief Justice of Barbados, Sir David Simmonds.
