Sophia Andrea Thomas

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Sophia Thomas, a Deputy Director in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions with nine years' practice, was found guilty of professional misconduct for knowingly making a false statement to the Court (Canon V(o)) and discrediting the profession (Canon I(b)). During a criminal trial she presented a reproduced, back-dated witness statement as an 'original' without informing the court that the original was lost, misleading the court and colleagues. The Panel found the conduct gross, repeated and intentional in misleading the court, but did not make an express finding of dishonesty. Considering aggravating factors including lack of remorse and insight, and mitigating good standing, the Panel suspended her from practice for six months, ordered attendance at ethics CLPD seminars, and awarded costs of JMD $100,000 to the Complainant and JMD $300,000 to the General Legal Council.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Conduct adversely affected the proceedings, resulting in the DPP offering no further evidence against the accused
• Persistent conduct during trial attempting to circumvent proper procedure for adducing evidence
• Nature of misconduct - presenting a document to the court knowing it was not what it purported to be
• Undermining the profession and prosecution in the eyes of the public
• Position of responsibility within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
• Lack of remorse - blamed the judge for misunderstanding rules of evidence
• Lack of insight into seriousness - insisted the document was a 'second original'

Mitigating factors:

• Previous good standing with no other complaints brought against her
• No personal benefit derived; acting on behalf of the State in a major fraud case

⚠ figures not found verbatim in the source were dropped: ["unverified_costs_amount=400000"]