Neil Rowe, Barbados Parliament Deputy speaker’s rape trial set for June 11

Bridgetown, Barbados: Days after the arrest of Neil Rowe, Barbados’ former Deputy Speaker of the House and Member of Parliament, the date for the rape trial has been scheduled for June 11, 2024.

Legal Allegations: The former DY speaker faces a trial over allegations of non-consensual sexual intercourse with a woman from September 2022, a serious charge that led to this decision. 

The police managed to present Rowe in the Supreme Court before Justice Pamela Beckles on Thursday. Notably, he pleaded not guilty to the charge that he had been sexually involved with a woman without her consent. 

It is alleged that he should have known that she did not consent or was reckless as to whether she consented. Moreover, he was represented by Senior Counsel Michael Lashley.

Unanimous Party Decision

The ruling Barbados Labour Party, holding all 30 Parliament seats, unanimously agreed to revoke Rowe’s deputy speaker role following a motion passed by Deputy PM Santia Bradshaw.

Due to such allegations, Rowe was replaced by the Member of Parliament for St Thomas, Cynthia Forde. He was officially removed as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly after facing the accusation of having committed sexual assault against a woman. 

Initially, as Rowe’s raping case came out in the media, Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, announced that the parliamentary team had decided to nominate Forde as the new Deputy Speaker. 

It is to be noted that on Wednesday, PM Mottley defended the decision to remove the former Deputy Speaker from his designation, saying it would help him in dealing with a case pending in the High Court. 

Moreover, Rowe, the Member of Parliament for St Michael North West, entered a plea for the first time. The accusations against him gained public opinion on Facebook. 

While reacting to the news, a person named Alex Ross commented, “Not your case isn’t one of those that can be a case closed matter. You are a small fish, the irony of it though. This is going to get interesting.”

Another FB user, Michael, wrote, “Exactly what we should have done. Instead, we made him a Parliamentary Secretary. Make it make sense.”

Lenny Redd, another social media user, while responding to the matter, stated, “This is why people should not be weak or intimidated by so-called powerful people. Once you let them feel like ‘Gods’, they believe they are entitled. A boy/girl is just what they are (flesh). Am not intimidated by either.”