‘no tax rises’

• VAT, Customs, excise, property to stay same

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff News ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Privy Council quashed a man’s armed robbery conviction yesterday, expressing “deep concern” about how local courts handled his case.

A key matter in Vinson Ariste’s case was whether he confessed to the crime or delivered a confession under duress.

“We cannot conclude

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No mention of NIB in Budget speech

PRIME Minister Philip “Brave” Davis said the government is arresting the national debt and reducing the deficit, unveiling a budget yesterday that aims to improve the country’s fiscal performance through better tax collection rather than introducing new taxes.

Mr Davis said there would be “no increase in the VAT rate, and no increase on customs duties, excise duty, tax rates, and real property tax rates”.

However, a number of other fees and changes feature in the Budget, including a rise in passenger taxes that sees fees rise from $15 to $28 for non-sea travel, or between $23 and $25 for sea travel - plus new levies for environment of $5 for every cruise ship passenger and $2 for tourism enhancement for every passenger arriving or leaving.

Mr Davis also criticised the Hawksbill Creek Agreement, which he said is not working, and said there would be a separate annuncement on government action over the Grand Bahama Port Authority model which he said “must change”.

Financial Secretary Simon Wilson said he is “very confident” the government will increase revenues by $400m and slash the deficit by 75 percent despite the absence of new or increased taxes.

And despite the National Insurance Board fund having been described as “running on fumes” by Minister of State Myles Laroda previously, there was no mention of NIB in the Budget speech.

Privy CounCil overturns ‘Confession’ ruling

this judgment without expressing the board’s deep concern about what has happened in this case,” the Privy Council said in its ruling. “A young man has been languishing in prison for over 12 years on the basis of a confession that should never have been admitted in evidence against him.”

According to the ruling, police arrested Mr Ariste at his home on July 21, 2010.

Officers alleged that between July 22 and 25, he confessed during police interviews to several offences, including robbing Andrea Donaldson. At the time, Mr Ariste had no prior conviction, and his alleged confession was the only evidence linking him to the robbery. There was no audio or video recording of his interview.

“But if the record of the

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