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Governor McCreary.                          Tova King

 

 

The government of the British Virgin Islands is to further compensate former St.Kitts National Basketball Player Tova King who has won his legal battle to remain in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), where he is married to a native and has children.

The move to have the former US College Basketball player deported came after he, just over a month after arriving in the BVI in April 2011, was held with 21 grams of marijuana seeds. He was sentenced to pay a fine of $500 or 3 months imprisonment
Days after paying the fine, King got married to a native of BVI who resides in Virgin Gorda. In addition to two step-children King eventually has two others with his wife.
Mindful of his conviction for the marijuana seeds, as well as other reports made to the Virgin Gorda police, the authorities served King with a Notice of Intent to Deport.
Justice Nicola Byer however found that the deportation order was disproportionate to King’s conviction for marijuana seeds.
She also argued that it appears the Governor’s deportation order was predominantly based on reports made to the Virgin Gorda police by relatives of King’s wife.
Justice Byer indicated that those were mere reports arising from a family feud, and emphasized that no charges were ever laid against King in relation to them.
King also received tremendous support from his local wife, who noted that he is the main caregiver of the family.
It should be noted that, although King was married to a BVIslander, his deportation was still possible because he has not been married for the minimum five years required for him to become a Belonger.

What happened?
Served on November 28, 2012 with a Notice of Intent to Deport, King hired attorney-at-law Patrick Thompson, who wrote to Governor Boyd McCleary in an effort to stop his client’s deportation.
Governor McCleary disagreed, and proceeded to have King deported from the territory on August 7 last year.
That took place inside the prescribed time-frame allowed for King to appeal against the deportation order. Hence, the purported deportation was considered unlawful.
As a result, Governor McCleary gave the go-ahead for King to be returned to the territory to make his appeal. On November 21 last year, King was back in the BVI.
His matter was heard in the High Court, which ordered the government to compensate him for damages resulting from his unlawful deportation. According to BVI News online Those monies have been paid.

Second attempt to deport
King’s troubles were still far from over as, on February 13 of this year, Governor McCleary indicated that the deportation order will stand. King continued to fight the order.
Things however took another turn when, on February 21 this year, two officers from the Immigration Department visited King’s Virgin Gorda residence and took him into custody for deportation the following day.
King’s attorney immediately sought and received an injunction which blocked the deportation, pending the outcome of the appeal earlier filed.
The court eventually quashed the deportation order initially served on King.
It also ordered that King should be compensated $3,900 for damages resulting from the fact that he was taken into the custody of the Virgin Gorda police. The government is required to cover his legal costs.

Not a threat to social order
Outlining his reasons for wanting King deported, Governor McCleary argued that his remaining in the territory was contrary to the public good. He said such conclusion was based on King’s earlier conviction for the marijuana seeds as well as his “pattern of undesirable behavior”.
The Governor further stated that King’s marriage to a local was of short duration (not yet five years for him to become a Belonger), adding that King was unemployed and so was an unproductive member of the society.
Justice Byer, in her ruling, stated that it appeared the Governor was acting on reports made to the Virgin Gorda Police about King, adding that no charges were ever laid.
“What His Excellency seemed to rely on to substantiate the characterization of this Claimant (King) as “undesirable” were reports, not charges, made to the police on Virgin Gorda which all seemed, when analyzed, to surround an ongoing family dispute between the Second Claimant (King’s wife) and her family into which the First Claimant (King) is now a party.”
The High Court judge further stated that there is no evidence that King is a threat to social order, and also none to suggest that he was a career criminal.
“This Court has not found any evidence of the First Claimant (King) being a career criminal, or of him embarking on a life of crime to warrant his being sent from these shores,” said the judge.
“I am therefore of the opinion that, in making the deportation order, insufficient consideration was given to the effect the order would have had on the infringement of the rights to private and family life conferred upon the Claimants (King, his wife and children) by the Constitution. When there is an intention to so infringe those rights, there must be sufficient justification for so doing.”
King was a standout basketballer in St.Kitts while playing for the Rams Hitters and the St.Kitts National Team. The 6′-6″ baller earned himself a US College Basketball Scholarship in the 90’s but returned without completing his college scholarship stint. HE subsequently played for the Anguilla NAtional TEam .