An 81-year-old attorney dramatically changed his plea mid-trial on Friday, admitting to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from a client moments after delivering his defence to a jury in the High Court.
In a shocking twist, attorney-at-law Hilary Jeffrey Nelson threw in the towel and admitted to theft, mere moments after making an unsworn statement in the dock of the No. 5 Supreme Court.
Nelson, of Bagatelle Terrace, St James, asked to be rearraigned and pleaded guilty to stealing £347 560 ($855 000) belonging to Errol Hewitt between November 13, 2018 and March 4, 2019.
When the trial resumed before a jury of three men and six women on Friday morning, the options were presented to Nelson, who decided to make an unsworn statement from the dock, insisting that while it was not under oath, “my statement is true as far as I can honestly recall.”
In the almost 30-minute-long statement, Nelson insisted that there had been “bullying” from certain individuals throughout the property sale process, one who he claimed told his assistant that “he would make sure that I didn’t get any work in Barbados”.
In the period before the contract had been signed, Nelson’s then client informed him that there was a checklist of things to be done before the deal was completed, he said. In seeking to address this list with individuals on the other side, he was told that the agreement would not be changed, “so obviously the tail was wagging the dog or the tail was superior”.
Nelson told the court: “You would note that in the evidence you heard that the matter was due to be completed on December 15, 2018 but peculiarly the actual conveyance was dated December 31, the same year and why was that so, because there was a blunt refusal to amend the agreement to include the various checklist and things that had to be done before the matter was completed and Central Bank would not give permission to the Exchange Control Commission before it saw a signed agreement…In the interest of my then client I said ‘He wants the property, let me make sure we get the property going’. So the agreement was signed and dated December 31. I have not seen these files in weeks now. What I am telling you is honest as far as I can recall. This is not a lawyer’s statement that has been interfered with.”
“They behaved like bullies. I am not saying that I am God but with over 50 years practice, they had no respect. They were not listening to anything I had to say and were bullying their way through the whole process.”
Saying that he had been treated “harshly”, Nelson also highlighted that the charge had a serious impact on him, as all of his personal and business accounts had been blocked, including that from which he received his pension.
“Accounts which they cannot and did not show in evidence that any monies had been transferred from the client’s accounts,” he testified.
During the COVID pandemic, when the housing market became a buyer’s market, “I didn’t get off any properties to be in a position to pay off the monies allegedly stolen at that particular period in time but it has always been my intention to do so,” he said.
“I don’t want to profit from my former client’s misfortune…All along I told him that he would have been repaid but that any repayment would have been made through my attorneys, not me personally.”
Then with tears in his eyes, the elderly lawyer announced:
“All along I have been making every effort to mobilise the necessary funds and that is still an ongoing process which is likely to bear fruit. I will not shirk my responsibility. I am too proud to benefit from anything that is not mine.”
“I am contrite and claim every consideration available to me, not by way of right but how you feel about me on what you heard.”
Following the plea, Justice Pamela Beckles instructed the jury to return a formal verdict of guilty, which was accepted by acting senior state counsel Tito Holder, who prosecuted the case along with state counsel Maya Kellman.
Noting that the theft was of a considerable sum and a serious breach of trust, and had led to serious financial hardship for the complainant, Holder asked that Nelson be remanded pending sentencing.
Nelson’s attorney, Daquane Nedd however, argued that his client had fully cooperated at every aspect of the investigation, suffered from certain medical ailments, and there was no evidence that he would not be present in court at the required time.
Remanding Nelson to Dodds Prison, Justice Beckles said: “If there is anything that everyone knows about me is that I believe in consistency. I don’t care whether you are black, white, pink, green, blue, I treat you all the same way and in previous matters that have come before the court, especially in cases like this where we have had a full trial – it’s not that there was a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity-, and there has been a conviction, each and every person has been remanded pending the pre-sentence report. I see no need why we should change that now.”
The case continues on June 18.
(JB)
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