Tonight, Leader of the Opposition Patrick Faber has been cleared of a charge of domestic assault against his fiancee Dr Shanikka Arnold and damage to her laptop.
And while those criminal charges may be behind him, he's far from out of the woods on this one - Faber is now mired in a thorny political tangle - as his own party chairman is calling for his resignation.
We'll have all angles of this major national story coming up - but we start with his appearance in court this afternoon at 3:00 pm. Jules Vasquez was at the courthouse:
Flanked by attorneys Dickie Bradley and OJ Elrington, and a police escort, Leader of the Opposition Patrick Faber did a slow walk across the courthouse verandah - going from the magistrate's court room to the court office.
Shortly after, his fiancee, Dr Shannika Arnold - along with her attorney David Morales stepped quickly across, with her head down.
Faber and his legal team came out of the court office in 20 minutes - and confirmed that the charges had been dropped:
Richard Bradley, Attorney - Patrick Faber
"In court a few minutes ago was a farce. In this case before any need to arrest, the complainant had given thought, sought legal advice and said 'this is my fiancee, why am I so far down the road with this matter.' In court today, the doctor took the witness stand and the prosecutor ask questions and she said that it is my desire and I am asking this court not to proceed with the matter. On that basis, the magistrate is left with no choice, but to say that there is nothing against you, expect that you have been accused an allegation in relation to the destruction of a computer and that the complainant may have been hit in the process of whatever transpired. That is all. The magistrate ask the doctor questions in relations to the matter and the prosecutor pointed said have you been threatened, have you been induced or promised anything and so, because it is a reasonable concern. The police get a report and they do nothing and the matter escalates. There is no indication of that here. They will leave holding hands and they will work out their matter. This is a private matter and there was no need for information relating to what transpired to have been put out at the public."
Reporter
"Was any charge read to the leader of the opposition Mr. Faber in court? Was anything taken from him?"
Richard Bradley, Attorney - Patrick Faber
"Its just a procedure that you read the charge, that's all."
So he's had a charge read to him in court - how will Faber survive what comes next?:
Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"It is a matter that is private for my fiancee and I. In fact, it is a very difficult situation that we have battled for some time and I am not going to say more than that, because in deed as I said in my statement and she said in hers, we don't want any further public scrutiny. Not for me, because I signed up for this life of politics and you know that there is nothing left to be said that has not been said negatively about me and you know that my skin is very thick, but in terms of protecting her and making sure that she is in optimal health and that the public scrutiny against her is stopped, I will not go any further and all I will tell you is that I have now, long in fact dedicated myself to try to make sure that, that relationship that I have with Dr. Arnold is optimized and that it is the best possible relationship and I will continue to support her and we will continue to try to make that relationship work."
Jules Vasquez
"Sir, regardless of how you take it, this is not a good look being at magistrate's court having to go before a judge, having 2 attorneys..."
Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"If you were so concerned about that you wouldn't bring the cameras here."
Jules Vasquez
"I'm saying you are a bunch of men, you are 3 men talking about a woman who is a victim."
Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"You are aware that the only reason we are at the magistrate's court today is not even because of the issue, but because the commissioner takes these political instructions and there is an agenda on the part of certain people politically, I don't know who they are, who want to see this kind of embarrassment for me, want to see me in this situation - something that could have been avoided completely. In fact it is a waste of the court's time, it is a waste of the journalists' time. Maybe you will get more news tonight on a Friday night - more viewers tonight. Thats it."
Reporter
"Do you believe your political career would survive this? Anywhere in the world someone would be forced to resign."
Patrick Faber, Leader of the Opposition
"You know that I am a fighter and you know that I will keep going."
Reporter
"The chairman of the UDP, on his personal perspective that he would want to see you resign."
Faber appeared before Magistrate Baja Shoman in Court 2, where as you heard the charges were dropped. Notably, the media was not allowed to enter the courtroom. More on that later.
