Social media personality to pay $85 000

Justice Barbara Cooke-Alleyne also ordered King on Monday to pay the money in six months at the rate of six per cent per annum.

The compensation includes $75 000 for compensatory damages and $10 000 for aggravated damages.

Added to that, he was also hit with court costs in the sum of $12 000.

Yesterday, a defiant King told the Weekend Nation that he would be appealing the decision.

“I ain‘t paying it. I told the court that too. I am appealing because they did not follow the rules of engagement . . . I am prepared to go all the way to the CCJ with this. I am not giving David Ellis no money,” King said.

He said he asked the judge to recuse herself and also wrote to Chief Justice Leslie Haynes, asking that another judge be appointed to hear the matter, but said he received a response noting that Cooke-Alleyne would continue to hear the matter.

King said he would also be challenging the six months given to pay the monies.

“Who you know in Barbados does take out that kind of money to pay in six months?” he asked.

“What they holding onto is that I did not file a defence in the prescribed time, which is 28 days. I refused to cooperate because from the get-go they were not following the rules,” King said, pointing out that a default judgement was filed against him.

But he pointed out: “Even if they file a default judgement against me for not filing a defence within

the prescribed 28 days, if you look at what I ask on my Facebook page that does not constitute defamation.”

When contacted, Ellis said he preferred not to comment at this time.

His attorney, Kashawn Wood, told this newspaper that an oral decision was given by the judge on Monday.

Of the case, he said King “never acknowledged service so we applied for a default judgement and having applied for default we got the matter set down for the assessment of damages before Justice Cooke-Alleyne and following that, the court awarded judgement in favour of Mr Ellis in the amount of $85 000”.

Prior to the civil matter King, 57, of Campaign Land, Martindales Road, St Michael, was charged back in 2020 with using a computer to send an electronic communication via social media, which was menacing in character and was intended to cause or was reckless as to cause annoyance, inconvenience, distress or anxiety to Ellis or to any other person to whom he intended the message to be communicated. That offence was said to have been committed between July 17 and 18, 2019.