Former Crown Counsel prosecutor Shantrice Dorset has been convicted of three criminal offences following a judge-alone trial before Justice Patrick Thompson Jr. in the High Court.
Dorset was found guilty on Counts 2, 4 and 6 of a six-count indictment and not guilty on Counts 1, 3 and 5.
The convictions followed a trial in which the Crown relied heavily on banking records, ferry records, telephone records, thousands of extracted text messages and Dorset’s own evidence, which the prosecution argued demonstrated her knowledge of her boyfriend Khyron Phillip’s firearm difficulties and her assistance to him before and after he fled St. Kitts.
Following the verdict, Dorset was remanded into custody pending sentencing. Surrounded by family members, she became visibly emotional at the court and was observed wailing in apparent disbelief after the Court announced its findings. In a stark indication of the immediate consequences of the verdict, a white prison minibus arrived at the courthouse shortly afterwards to transport Dorset to His Majesty’s Prison.
THE THREE CONVICTIONS
Dorset was convicted of:
Count 2 – Attempting to Pervert the Course of Justice: sending $560 to Phillip to assist him to flee St. Kitts and Nevis and thereby shield him from a police investigation into his possession of a firearm.
Count 4 – Misprision of Felony: knowing that Phillip had unlawfully possessed a firearm and concealing that offence.
Count 6 – Misconduct in Public Office: while serving as a Crown prosecutor and public officer, assisting Phillip to evade detection and apprehension by police in relation to the murder of Akeem Archibald, knowing that Phillip was a fugitive who had fled to Saint Maarten.
Dorset was acquitted of Count 1, which alleged that the money was sent to help Phillip evade the murder investigation; Count 3, which alleged that she knew Phillip had participated in Archibald’s murder and concealed it; and Count 5, which alleged corruption arising from her approach to a senior police officer concerning the surrender of guns.
The verdict therefore did not establish that Dorset knew Phillip participated in Archibald’s murder. It did, however, establish her guilt in relation to assisting him to evade the firearm investigation, concealing his firearm offence and misconducting herself as a public officer by assisting him while he was a fugitive in relation to the murder investigation.
THE EVIDENCE HEARD AT TRIAL
Much of the case turned upon what happened during the approximately 48 hours following Archibald’s killing.
Archibald was killed in Conaree after 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 20, 2024. Evidence before the Court was that spent rifle shells were observed at the scene.
In the early hours of the following morning, Sunday, July 21, Phillip conveyed a rifle to his cousin, Beejay Tuckett. Tuckett was subsequently arrested in connection with possession of the firearm.
Tuckett’s evidence about Phillip bringing him the rifle went unchallenged at trial and was also supported, according to the Crown, by messages subsequently extracted from Dorset’s telephone.
The prosecution’s case was that the firearm, Phillip’s sudden departure and Dorset’s actions had to be considered together rather than as isolated events.
$560 SENT – FERRY TICKET BOUGHT IN THE SAME MINUTE
A particularly important part of the evidence concerned the morning of Monday, July 22, 2024.
Telephone records showed communications between Phillip and Dorset between approximately 11:18 a.m. and 11:29 a.m. Phillip called Dorset for about two minutes and subsequently sent her a message asking whether she could “come now.”
Dorset asked whether somebody else could go. When Phillip replied that there was “Noone else,” she agreed to go and, according to her own evidence, met him.
Dorset accepted in evidence that Phillip appeared agitated and that she gave him money specifically to enable him to leave St. Kitts.
Banking records showed that at 11:57 a.m. Dorset transferred $560 to Phillip.
Ferry records showed that at 11:57 a.m., the very same minute, Phillip purchased a ferry ticket to St. Eustatius with onward travel to Saint Maarten.
The Crown relied heavily upon that timing.
The prosecution argued that Dorset knowingly financed Phillip’s sudden departure at a time when a murder had occurred less than two days earlier, a firearm connected to Phillip had come into police possession and Phillip appeared agitated.
Dorset’s position was that she did not initially know why Phillip wanted to meet her and only discovered when they met that he wanted money to travel overseas.
Justice Thompson ultimately acquitted Dorset of sending the money to obstruct the murder investigation, but convicted her of sending it to assist Phillip to evade the firearm investigation.
WHAT DORSET’S MESSAGES REVEALED
A substantial part of the prosecution case came from messages and other data extracted from Dorset’s electronic devices.
The evidence showed that Dorset and Phillip remained in telephone contact until October 2024, when her devices were seized.
The Crown relied on a series of messages written immediately before and after Phillip left St. Kitts as evidence of what Dorset knew and intended.
During the early hours of July 22, Dorset’s sister apparently remonstrated with her concerning Phillip. Later that morning, Dorset wrote that she was “struggling mentally” and said:
“He traumatized me.”
The prosecution argued that these messages, when considered alongside the timing of the murder, firearm recovery and Phillip’s departure, supported an inference that Dorset knew considerably more about Phillip’s predicament than she admitted.
Later on July 22, Dorset wrote that Phillip had left his cousin and others “to be in harms ways.”
After Phillip had departed, further messages referred directly to his ability to evade the authorities.
Among the communications relied upon by the prosecution were Dorset’s statements:
“They ain’t stop him”
and that Phillip had been “smart enough” to deceive immigration authorities.
She also stated:
“If they put out anything whatever country gonna send him back”
and:
“He can’t come back SKN.”
The prosecution further relied upon Dorset expressing concern that “de laws them gone up now”, which the Crown said referred to then recently increased penalties for firearm offences in the Federation.
Perhaps most significantly, in the early hours of July 23, Dorset wrote that Phillip knew police:
“would come for him to try lock him up”
and that:
“he ain want no lock up.”
The Crown argued that these were not the communications of a girlfriend innocently unaware of why Phillip had suddenly left the country. Rather, they demonstrated an awareness that Phillip had fled because he expected to be arrested.
KNOWLEDGE OF THE FIREARM
Other messages became particularly important to Counts 2 and 4 relating to the two firearm-related charges on which Dorset was ultimately convicted.
The prosecution argued that Dorset knew details about the firearm investigation which went beyond what an uninvolved person would ordinarily be expected to know.
Her messages included references to “he dna” being on “a bag of clothes.”
Dorset also wrote:
“He still going get charge for possession”
and explained her concern:
“because he dna gon still be on the clothes that was in the same bag.”
The Crown relied upon those exchanges as evidence that Dorset knew Phillip had handled the firearm and understood the forensic evidence which might connect him to it.
Other communications referred expressly to “the weapon”, Phillip’s cousin’s involvement with it, and what Dorset described as the “body on the weapon” being “the one from Saturday.”
The messages also revealed her concern that a tip-off had led police to recover the firearm.
The prosecution argued that these communications, together with Tuckett’s evidence that Phillip had brought the rifle to him, established Dorset’s knowledge of Phillip’s firearm possession and her subsequent concealment of that offence.
Justice Thompson convicted her on Count 4 –Misprision of Felony.
MESSAGES ABOUT “COVERING THEIR TRACKS”
The prosecution also placed before the Court a series of communications between Dorset and Phillip which it characterised in its closing submissions as discussions about “covering their tracks” and downplaying or concealing Dorset’s connection to Phillip and her knowledge of his activities.
The Crown relied on evidence that Dorset encouraged her sister to speak in codes, sought outwardly to distance herself from Phillip and, shortly after he left St. Kitts, apparently made an urgent effort to get rid of clothing belonging to him.
Messages also revealed Dorset’s concern that she herself might be under police surveillance.
The prosecution argued that none of this conduct could properly be viewed in isolation. It invited Justice Thompson to consider the complete picture created by the timing of the $560 transfer, Phillip’s immediate ferry purchase, the firearm, Dorset’s detailed knowledge of the investigation and forensic evidence, and her continued communications with Phillip after he had fled.
CALL TO ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER ABOUT GUNS
Another important event occurred at 1:39 p.m. on July 22, less than two hours after Dorset transferred the $560 and Phillip purchased his ferry ticket.
Dorset telephoned Assistant Commissioner of Police Travis Rogers and enquired about an amnesty for a person who turned in guns.
The Crown alleged that Dorset sought to use her professional relationship with the senior police officer to obtain favourable treatment for Phillip if guns were surrendered.
Evidence was also presented concerning Dorset’s friend, Leondre Leader, whom Dorset maintained was the person on whose behalf the enquiry had been made.
The prosecution disputed that explanation.
Among other things, the Crown relied upon Dorset’s private messages referring to a “deal”, “Trying to gather the guns to give up”, and “For them to give up 5 guns.”
Another message revealed Dorset saying that she was “praying the deal work.”
The prosecution argued that those communications demonstrated Dorset’s personal investment in the proposed arrangement and urged the Court to reject the suggestion that she had merely been making an innocent enquiry for Leader.
Justice Thompson, however, ultimately acquitted Dorset of the corruption charge on Count 5.
CONTINUED CONTACT WITH PHILLIP
The evidence did not end with Phillip’s departure.
Dorset and Phillip remained in telephone contact for months after he left St. Kitts.
The Crown relied upon evidence that Dorset personally updated Phillip on developments in the police investigation, knew that he would not voluntarily return to St. Kitts and continued providing him with support and encouragement while he remained abroad.
The prosecution argued that the seriousness of this conduct was magnified by Dorset’s professional position.
She was not merely Phillip’s girlfriend. She was a Crown prosecutor, working within the criminal justice system and having direct professional access to senior police officers and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The Crown argued that she nevertheless concealed Phillip’s whereabouts from the very law-enforcement authorities with whom she worked and continued supporting him while he remained a fugitive.
Justice Thompson found that conduct sufficient to convict Dorset of misconduct in public office on Count 6.
THE BACKGROUND
The case began with the killing of Akeem Archibald, who was shot in Conaree Village on the night of July 20, 2024.
Police subsequently identified Phillip, also known as “Tall Up,” as a suspect in the murder investigation. Authorities later disclosed that he had fled St. Kitts and Nevis by sea, and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Information subsequently received concerning Dorset’s conduct led to a special criminal investigation initiated by Director of Public Prosecutions Adlai Smith, involving officers from the Violent Crime Unit, White Collar Crime Unit, Special Services Unit and Cyber Crime Unit.
Dorset was arrested and charged in January 2025.
Phillip is understood to be in custody overseas awaiting trial on firearms-related charges.
After hearing the evidence and Dorset’s own testimony, Justice Thompson returned a mixed verdict.
Dorset was acquitted of attempting to obstruct the murder investigation, concealing knowledge of Phillip’s alleged participation in the murder, and corruption.
She was nevertheless convicted of attempting to pervert the course of justice by financing Phillip’s flight in connection with the firearm investigation, concealing his firearm offence, and misconduct in public office by assisting him to evade detection and apprehension while a fugitive in relation to the murder investigation.
Following Justice Thompson’s verdict, Dorset was remanded into custody pending sentencing. Convictions for perverting the course of justice and misconduct in public office both expose Dorset to a maximum of life imprisonment. While life is the technical maximum, that maximum is not an indication of the likely sentence. The sentencing exercise would turn on the seriousness of the particular attempt, culpability, harm/risk to the administration of justice, her role as a prosecutor, mitigation, previous character and relevant comparable sentences.
Mr. Adley Duncan, specially appointed Special Prosecutor, assisted by local prosecutor Ms. Kyrstal Sukra advanced the case for the Prosecution. Mr. Denis Merchant represented Dorset.
