Grenada consultant Dr Ophelia Wells sues Crime Watch Host Ian Alleyne over defamation post

Trinidad and Tobago: Ian Alleyne, a prominent Trinidad and Tobago media personality and host of the popular TV show Crime Watch, is facing a defamation lawsuit following a Facebook post on August 21. The post falsely accused Dr. Ophelia Wells, a Grenada-based public policy consultant and ex-wife of Grenada's Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall, of having her US visa revoked alongside her ex-husband.

Dr. Ophelia Wells issued a pre-action protocol letter to Crime Watch talk-show host and producer Ian Alleyne on August 25 requesting him to retract his statements and post that was viewed by more than 770,000 of his Facebook followers. 

The post by Ian Alleyne titled “US revokes visas of Grenada’s Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall over Cuban medical brigade issue,” mentioned Wells under her former married name and implied that her US visa had also been revoked along with her ex-husbands due to support of the Cuban Medical brigade issue.

Claims that her attorneys Michael Rooplal and Gisanne Ramjit of Omega Chambers have stated are not true due to the fact that Dr. Ophelia Wells travelled to the US just last week. Noting that Ian Alleyne through his “news” Facebook post defamed her good name and caused real repercussions in her personal and professional life affecting her reputation.

Her attorneys claim that the post brought Wells unwanted distress and attention since its publication on Ian Alleyne’s Facebook page. The letter further stated that if no response or retraction is made in the following 7 days, Wells is set to proceed with legal action for damages and cost that the post caused her. 

Wells, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, formerly served as Grenada’s permanent secretary in the Ministry of Finance and she was married to Grenada’s Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall before the two got divorced and parted ways in 2023. 

In the letter her attorneys made it clear that Wells intends to take the claims to the  High Court unless Alleyne retracts the post and issues an apology as the letter of visa revocation only applied to Cornwall and made no mention of Wells.

The letter mentioned, “The falsities spoken against our client have led to immense damage to her character despite the credit and reputation, which she has garnered over the last several years.”

Ian Alleyne of Crime Watch talk-show host and producer is yet to respond to the pre-action protocol letter or  make a public apology for his life damaging news article that featured Dr. Wells.