Point Fortin Mayor Clyde Paul was convicted yesterday on a drunk-driving charge and fined $7,000. However, the conviction does not make him ineligible to run for public office.
In default, Paul, who has been nominated to serve once more as an alderman on the Point Fortin Borough Corporation in the hope of being elected mayor, will serve one year in prison.
Paul, 72, had pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence when he first appeared in court on October 20. However, he changed his plea to guilty when he reappeared yesterday before Point Fortin Magistrate Alicia Chankar.
He was represented by attorney James Philbert, a former commissioner of police, and Deryck Dindial, who also served as an alderman at the PFBC.
Paul was reportedly heading towards San Fernando in his Nissan SUV along the Southern Main Road, Rousillac, on October 19, when he was stopped during a police roadblock and subjected to a breathalyser test which recorded a reading of 95 microgrammes. The legal limit is 35 microgrammes.
In his plea of mitigation yesterday, Philbert asked for leniency as he sought to explain that Paul would have taken Dayquil medicine, plus two drinks on the day he was stopped.
Attorney and former alderman on the San Fernando City Corporation, Kevin Ratiram, confirmed that the sentence did not debar Paul from holding office once his party chooses him to do so.
Ratiram explained that Section 11, Sub-section 8 of the Municipal Corporation Act, Chap 25; 04 of the laws of T&T sets out the factors which would disqualify a person from being a Local Government councillor.
One of the things which disqualifies a person from being a councillor was if that person was under a sentence of death or was serving a sentence of imprisonment exceeding 12 months imposed on that person by a court in Trinidad and Tobago, Ratiram quoted the Act. He said Section 12, Sub-section 1 provides that an alderman shall be a person who qualifies to be a councillor.
"Therefore, the factors that would disqualify a person to be a councillor would also disqualify a person to be an alderman and by extension, mayor.
"Therefore, Mr Paul received a punishment of a fine and is not under sentence of death. And since he did not receive a sentence of imprisonment exceeding 12 months he would not be disqualified from being an alderman and by extension, mayor," he added.