LAWYERS REPRESENTING Rock Hard Cement Limited have asked District “A” Magistrate Douglas Frederick to suspend hearing of a criminal case brought against the company by Chief Town Planner Mark Cummins until the outcome of a High Court civil suit dealing with the same matter.
Vincent Watson, who is representing the Mark Maloney-run company in association with Derrick Oderson, submitted that the case brought against the cement business was not an isolated matter that could be resolved without the determination of the High Court case.
“The grounds of its application in the High Court are one and the same as its defence in these proceedings, that there was no breach of planning permission since the development in question is permitted development . . . .The determination of these issues of law will either give justification to the actions of the Chief Town Planner in issuing the various notices and in bringing this criminal charge, or it will result in the vindication of the defendant as the notices are quashed and or rendered null and void.
“On these facts it is the defendant’s application that the present proceedings be stayed pending the outcome of its High Court appeal,” Watson told the court. (TS)
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