KD Knight’s Attorneys Accuse Tufton of Defamation

Attorneys for PNP stalwart KD Knight have written to JLP campaign chair, Dr. Christopher Tufton, accusing him of defamation arising from an altered audio recording played at the party’s mass rally in Half Way Tree on Sunday.

The attorneys are demanding a prominent apology and retraction in addition to negotiations for a financial settlement.

Mahiri Stewart has the details.

During Sunday’s mass rally in Half Way Tree in St. Andrew, Dr. Tufton played an audio recording in which a voice alleged to be KD Knight’s is heard saying PNP President Mark Golding is unfit to be Prime Minister of Jamaica.

It has since emerged that the recording was altered and spliced to take Knight’s original comments out of context.

He in fact did not himself suggest Golding was unfit but was conveying a view he said existed.

Knight’s attorneys say Dr. Tufton must take responsibility for having defamed their client by playing the altered recording.

They say Tufton has persisted in standing by what they claim are defamatory comments, despite having been made aware of the unedited version of the recording by a journalist.

The attorneys say the recording played at the JLP rally was a manipulated fabrication.

The lawyers say the playing of the recording was a clear attempt to maliciously attack KD Knight and Mark Golding’s reputation.

The attorneys say the playing of the recording has caused great harm to their client’s reputation.

They’re demanding that Dr. Tufton publicly retract the attribution of the recording to KD Knight.

They say retraction and apology must be agreed to by them and should appear in all electronic media of all media houses and on the social media pages of the JLP.

The lawyers have given Dr. Tufton until Friday, August 15, to agree to their demands.