(RealNews)King’s Counsel Justin Simon is extending congratulations to Shannon Jones-Gittens on her appointment as the acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The sudden elevation of Jones-Gittens, a Senior Counsel in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, is due to the legal troubles now facing Anthony Armstrong, the substantive position-holder, in his native Jamaica.
Simon recalls the young attorney joining the Office during his own tenure as Attorney-General under the United Progressive Party (UPP) Administration.
He says he has observed and heard Jones-Gittens in court, since, and knows that she is very serious with regard to her duties.
The daughter of Barbudan Senator Fabian Jones, Jones-Gittens is the second woman appointed to act in this position within months. She is possibly the youngest person to have been appointed to do so.
Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh filled the position earlier this year, after Armstrong was found guilty of professional misconduct by the Disciplinary Committee of Jamaica’s General Legal Council (GLC) in 2021.
Armstrong has appealed the decision, but the matter has not yet been heard.
In the meantime, criminal charges of fraud, stemming from the same matter – three land transactions that took place over 18 years ago –have been laid against him.
He appeared in court on Monday, November 7, and is currently out on bail; however, his passport was confiscated at the time.