A man who pleaded guilty to stealing a cell phone top-up machine and cash has been sentenced to time served by a High Court judge.
Anderson Glenroy Gibbons of Church Street, Speightstown, St Peter had previously admitted that he stole the $24 000 Mobile E Top-Up vending machine and $1 230 in cash belonging to Cable and Wireless Limited between July 15 and 16, 2015.
The facts were that the telecoms company’s management received a call from one of its technicians on July 16, 2015, regarding the vending kiosk at Omni Mall in Speightstown, which had been stolen. Gibbons was arrested as a suspect.
He told police during an interview that he was at a nearby bar when another man told him to give him a hand with the machine. He gave a written statement admitting that he received $400 of the stolen money which he used to buy cocaine, food and sex.
Delivering the sentence in the No. 4 Supreme Court on Monday, Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell pointed out that Gibbons has ten previous convictions, including one for handling stolen property, two for possession of apparatus for the misuse of illegal drugs, one for theft, four for burglary, one for robbery and one for cannabis.
She said the aggravating factors of the offence were the value of the stolen property, the fact that the theft was premeditated and not opportunistic, and the impact it had on the business of Cable and Wireless. No mitigating factors were found. Aggravating factors of the offender were that the offence was solely for financial gain and Gibbons’ previous convictions under the Theft Act. The lone mitigating factor was his addiction to cocaine at the time.
A starting point of four years was used. The convicted man was given discounts for his early guilty plea, the delay in the case being brought to trial, and the 508 days he had spent on remand.
“When the calculations are done, your sentence of one year, 142 days would be 507 days…. Your sentence will be deemed having been served,” Justice Smith-Bovell said.
However, Gibbons remained in custody as he had another matter before the court.
A senior Ministry of Education official has urged teacher unions to view the ministry as a collaborator rather than as an enemy, issuing a call for unity as officials embark on the largest education system reforms in generations.
Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson conveyed a message that administrators and educators all had the common goal of achieving quality education for all that could only be achieved if all parties worked together. She was addressing the opening of a two-day executive meeting of the Caribbean Union of Teachers (CUT) at the Barbados Beach Club on Maxwell Coast Road.
Adamson stressed the importance of collaborative efforts. She encouraged a non-adversarial approach to negotiations and urged teachers’ unions to foster camaraderie among members while maintaining positive relationships with employers.
“My message is simple, let us work together,” she declared. “So how do we together tackle teacher burnout? How do we work together to ensure that as teachers fight for their rights, that the education of our children is not compromised? So how do we ensure that our shop stewards understand the industrial process and grievance procedures? As teacher unions, how do you encourage camaraderie among your members, but also facilitate positive relationships between them and their employer?
“We need to be working as partners, we need to be collaborating, we need to keep the communication channels open and discuss before taking action. We need to forge alliances with the necessary agencies. We need to pull together because we share a common goal – quality education for all. Let’s work together . . . . As we tackle the worldwide issues of climate change, natural disasters, learning loss due to the pandemic, [and] deteriorating school plants, let us work together.”
Emphasising the importance of working collectively, Adamson said that trust among stakeholders is built through continuous communication, training, education, and a shared commitment to quality education. She urged teachers to engage with the ministry regarding educational transformation and avoid a negative disposition towards it.
Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson (right), CUT president Dr Garth Anderson (third right), BUT president Rudy Lovell (second left) and other union officials at the head table.
“My ministry here in Barbados has heard the cry from the nation to chart a new path and transform the educational system in Barbados. To this end, we have started consultations with all stakeholders . . . . We have engaged with the unions here . . . and have formed several committees including teachers. Yet, we hear that teachers are not involved in the reform.”
Stressing that any reform needs buy-in from teachers, she encouraged unions to engage their members and ministries.
“No one likes change – maybe only a wet baby – so let us work together,” the ministry official urged.
CUT president Dr Garth Anderson emphasised the crucial nature of union meetings with education labour movements, citing an evolving and increasingly hostile school environment.
He highlighted the need for local constructs in managing discipline and stressed the importance of rules in maintaining order and teaching discipline.
“Our schools cannot carry out their mandate – that of preparing the next generation in optimising their full potentials – in an environment that is increasingly becoming hostile and unsafe. Many in our societies question what is happening in our schools when we examine the level of violence and total breakdown in discipline. Every school has its own ecology and sociology and so no one-size-fits-all can or will work. The management of discipline must be a local construct. School administrations must take charge and work with local stakeholders to determine within the framework of a policy to treat this matter. The policy cannot be seen as a prescription but a guide in the entire process,” the CUT head said.
Touching on the global teacher shortage, he noted that Caribbean educators were migrating to North America and Europe to pursue better opportunities, crippling the education systems in their homelands. He suggested that regional governments should ensure there is adequate funding for public education.
“As we speak, the world needs approximately 69 million teachers as teachers are not just migrating but resigning and leaving the profession, citing stress, [being] overworked, underpaid and being undervalued,” Dr Anderson said.
President of the Barbados Union of Teachers Rudy Lovell encouraged participants to approach reform discussions with an open mind, considering the potential benefits for regional educational systems. (SB)
A Christ Church man was fined $17 500 for gun, damage, and affray offences.
When he appeared before Justice Randall Worrell in Supreme Court No. 2 on Monday, Carlos Robert Jamal Walcott of No. 753 Kingsland Terrace admitted to having a firearm without a valid licence on October 10, 2020. He also pleaded guilty to damaging property belonging to Sophia Catwell, intending to damage such property or was reckless as to whether such property would be damaged. Walcott also admitted that he used unlawful violence, and his conduct was such that would cause another person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for their safety on the same day.
“Your matter is not to be treated in any way as a precedent in respect of unlawful use of a firearm. It is only due to the particular aspects and circumstances of this matter that you would be fined,” the judge said, adding that after the relevant deductions, the sentence to be served would be 21 months of imprisonment minus the time spent on remand.
Justice Worrell then imposed a $12 500 forthwith fine for the use of a firearm with an alternative of 12 months in prison.
In addition, he was fined $2 500 forthwith for the affray offence. With regards to the criminal damages charge, the convicted man was also ordered to pay $2 500 in two months. Failure to pay either of those fines would result in him spending five months behind bars on each charge, to run concurrently.
A 40-year-old man will have to pay $1 000 in compensation to a police officer whose property he damaged.
Elroy Emmerson Levere Rollock of Bishops Road, St Lucy pleaded guilty to several drug charges, including possession, possession with intent to supply and trafficking of cannabis on December 5, 2023. He also admitted that he assaulted Constable Ronald Williams and damaged his shirt and a pair of glasses.
Outlining the facts in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court before Magistrate Alison Burke, court prosecutor Verdon Forde said police officers were on duty along Swan Street in Bridgetown when they saw Rollock riding a bicycle and a strong scent of marijuana was emanating from him. He was stopped and in his right hand was a wrapping containing vegetable matter suspected to be cannabis. He was arrested and taken to Central Police Station.
While in the briefing room, as he was searched by Constable Williams, he began to struggle. Williams’ spectacles and shirt were damaged and he also received scratches to his face and head.
A black plastic bag containing vegetable matter suspected to be cannabis was found in Rollock’s back pocket.
Burke ordered the convicted man to pay Constable Williams $1 000 for the glasses and $75 for the shirt.
Three men, one of them from Trinidad, have been charged with the murder of missing 20-year-old Dominick Cadogan, while a fourth man has been jointly charged with them for conspiracy to commit murder.
Tarik Gyasi Wickham, 25, of LP42 Lady Young Road, Morvant, Trinidad;Rico Carlos Bovell, 28, of Niles Road, Waterhall Land, Eagle Hall, St Michael; and Jovanni Dmitri Orlando Marshall, 19, of Chalky Mount, St Andrew are expected to appear in court on Thursday on the murder charge.
Kelvin Jamal Marshall, 39, of Chalky Mount, St Andrew, is jointly charged with them for conspiracy to murder.
Cadogan, formerly of Country Park Towers, Country Road, St Michael, was reported missing on October 15. (BT)
A 21-year-old man who entered a fight when he was “triggered” by seeing a man hit a woman is now on $4 000 bail.
Jaden Jamar Harris of Bibby’s Lane, St Michael pleaded guilty to assaulting Ronald Lavine, occasioning him actual bodily harm, on October 30, 2023, and to causing a disturbance in the Constitution River Terminal, a public place.
The court heard that when public service vehicle (PSV) operators got into an altercation on that day, Harris was nearby and joined in the melee, delivering several kicks to Lavine.
Asked by Magistrate Alison Burke in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court why he had gotten involved, he stated that upon seeing “the big guy hit the girl”, it triggered him.
The judge ordered a pre-sentence report for Harris, who is not known to the court, and adjourned the matter until June 28, 2024 when she requested that the virtual complainant appear.
One of the men captured in a widely circulated video robbing an elderly woman of her jewellery in broad daylight has been remanded to Dodds Prison after pleading guilty to that offence and another robbery.
Appearing in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court before Magistrate Alison Burke on Wednesday afternoon, 19-year-old Akiel Curwan Forde of Bellevue, Waterford, St Michael, admitted that on December 7, 2023, he robbed Elizabeth Bradshaw of one chain valued at $445.71, two bracelets valued at $975.70 and two bangles valued at $500 – a total value of $1 911.41.
He also pleaded guilty to robbing Caulbert Walker of two rings valued at $675, on December 5.
Constable Ralph Rollock told the court that in the December 7 matter, the complainant had just left the National Insurance building and was on Culloden Road, St Michael when the accused and another man passed by and spoke to her cordially before grabbing at her jewellery. She and Forde struggled before he got the items and ran off.
Police who were in the area pursued the two men and apprehended Forde. The other man escaped and remains at large.
In the other matter, Walker was in the area of Bank Hall, St Michael, awaiting a bus, when the accused and another man passed by and snatched his rings after a brief struggle.
Objecting to bail, Constable Rollock highlighted the nature and seriousness of the offence, the need to protect society and the possibility of interference in the investigation regarding the co-accused who is not yet in custody.
Representing Forde, defence lawyer Shadia Simpson requested a pre-sentence report, which was granted.
Forde returns to court on January 10, 2024, for sentencing.
Describing Jon-Erik Kei Grason Thomas’ actions as selfish and self-centred, Madam Justice Pamela Beckles sentenced him to four years in prison for giving his unsuspecting girlfriend a drug to cause a miscarriage.
Thomas, a senior compliance officer, had initially pleaded not guilty to the offence. However, he later admitted that on April 2, 2019, he administered the noxious substance, misoprostol, to the woman, with intent to cause a miscarriage, an offence under the Offences Against the Person Act.
“This case is tragic and has arisen due to your selfish behaviour and your self-centeredness. It was all about you, with no consideration whatsoever for the complainant. You thought of no one else but yourself. Your culpability in this matter and the harm that you have caused cannot be overstated or denied,” the judge said while delivering her ruling in the No. 5 Supreme Court on Thursday.
Calling the case “very foreign to our culture”, Justice Beckles listed the aggravating features as the nature and gravity of the offence; the intimate nature of the parties; the high degree of planning that went into the commission of the offence, including researching the drug, sourcing and delivering it and attempting to dispose of the packaging; the potential risk to the life of the complainant; and its effect on her.
No mitigating factors were identified regarding the offence.
Justice Beckles said the matter was so serious that only a custodial sentence would suffice.
Her starting point for sentencing was eight years behind bars. Considering Thomas’ cooperation with police, acceptance of responsibility for his actions, favourable pre-sentence report and the testimony of character witnesses, she gave a two-year deduction along with a one-third discount for his early guilty plea.
The court previously heard that Thomas and the complainant were in a relationship from 2018 to January 2019. In February 2019, it was confirmed by a doctor that she was five weeks pregnant.
On April 2, 2019, while at the woman’s home where they were watching a movie, Thomas crushed four misoprostol pills and put them inside some juice he gave her to drink.
When she awoke the next morning and was bleeding, she told Thomas she believed she was having a miscarriage, and he responded, “Maybe” before getting ready for work and leaving.
The woman then went to the doctor and was told, among other things, that she would have to wait until the bleeding stopped.
When she returned home, she searched the garbage Thomas had taken out, and discovered a Ziplock bag with a piece of tablet. She had earlier discovered white residue at the bottom of the cup she had used the night before.
She kept the items and took them to the police after her pregnancy had to be terminated at five months due to the “non-viability of the foetus”.
Two of the four men charged in connection with the murder of 20-year-old Dominick Cadogan were remanded to Dodds Prison on Thursday.
Chalky Mount, St Andrew residents Jovanni Dmitri Orlando Marshall, 19, accused of murder and conspiracy to murder, and 39-year-old Kelvin Jamal Marshall who is charged with conspiracy to murder, appeared in the District ‘D’ Magistrates’ Court and were not required to enter pleas.
They were denied bail and given a January 8, 2024 date to reappear.
The two other men charged with murder and conspiracy to murder did not appear in court as they were already on remand.
They are Tarik Gyasi Wickham, 25, of LP42 Lady Young Road, Morvant, Trinidad; and Rico Carlos Bovell, 28, of Niles Road, Waterhall Land, Eagle Hall, St Michael.
Moments before Jamal Amal Skeete was to be sentenced by Madam Justice Pamela Beckles for three counts of sacrilege on Thursday, he left the custody of the psychiatric male nurse assigned to him, walked out of the Supreme Court Complex and did not return.
A warrant has therefore been issued for him.
Skeete, whose last known address was Well Gap, Cave Hill, St Michael, had been remanded into the custody of the Psychiatric Hospital during his last court appearance, with the request that he be tested for drugs and assessed there before sentencing.
Reporting to the judge in the No. 5 Supreme Court what had happened, the nurse said that while they were waiting for the court to start, Skeete got up and began walking towards the exit, telling him that he was going to get something to eat. The nurse said he pursued Skeete and told him to return as he was expected to attend court, but the man kept walking.
The nurse, questioned by the judge, said he saw no police around at the time to get assistance and admitted that he raised no real alarm as he was unaware that Skeete was a prisoner and thought he had just been sent by the court to the hospital for assessment.
Justice Beckles expressed concern about the situation, saying that Skeete had been remanded after recently admitting in open court that he smoked crack cocaine.
Noting that Skeete had previously been a client at Verdun House where he was doing “exceptionally well” before being expelled due to misbehaviour, the judge said that a programme had been since worked out for him.
“We were prepared to give him a chance. We were on the verge of placing him on a suspended sentence this morning. We were going to work with him…. I do not know how this happened,” she said, before issuing a warrant for his arrest instead.
Skeete had admitted to entering Mount Pisgah Spiritual Baptist Church, a divine place of worship, between February 1 and 2, 2018, with intent to commit theft.
He also pleaded guilty to entering Way of Truth Ministries between February 6 and 7, 2018 and stealing four cartons of juice, a sugar canister, a malt, and $744.14 cash, with a total value of $776.44. He entered that place of worship again between February 8 and 9, 2018 and stole two packs of scrubbers, a box of garbage bags, two tins of powder, four bottles of window cleaner, three bottles of toilet cleaner, six cans of air freshener, a gallon of disinfectant and a pack of cloth wipes, all valued at $72.75.
Trials for three separate murder accused have been set to be heard in the No. 4 Supreme Court in the coming year.
Appearing before Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell on Wednesday, Gabriel Shando Hayde pleaded not guilty to the February 16, 2020, shooting death of Kerwin Howell.
The 26-year-old resident of Colleton, St John, was given a fixed trial date of July 8, 2024.
Howell’s lifeless body was found in the Colleton community by police who responded to reports from residents of hearing multiple gunshots.
Meanwhile, the trial of 28-year-old Shawayne Deshawn Williams of White Hall, St Michael, is set for May 22, 2024.
He denied killing Tavon Alleyne on December 26, Boxing Day of 2017.
According to the police report, Alleyne was walking through a track near his house when he was approached by a man who shot him multiple times before fleeing the scene.
During his arraignment, Ricardo Elwin Sealy of Cambridge, St Joseph, pleaded not guilty to murdering his brother Ryan Sealy on April 13, 2021.
His trial is set to begin on January 31, 2024.
The victim died from injuries at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital days after an alleged hammer attack.
An 18-year-old has been placed on $3 000 bail on assault and damages charges.
When she appeared before Magistrate Alison Burke in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court on Thursday, Demetria Kleem Sergeant of Coral Land Haggatt Hall, St Michael, pleaded not guilty to assaulting Alison Clarke on December 5, 2023, occasioning her actual bodily harm.
She also denied damaging one cell phone and a pair of spectacles belonging to Clarke.
The accused is represented by Senior Counsel Angella Mitchell-Gittens.
A police officer and businessman have admitted to money laundering offences they committed over a 10-year span.
Appearing before Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith Bovell in the No. 4 Supreme Court on Thursday, Constable Undwye Jean-Baptiste, 38, of No. 16 West Road Warrens, St Michael, and Hasan Kareem Catlyn, 39, of Bridge Road, St Michael, admitted to conspiring with each other to launder funds that were the proceeds of crime.
Catlyn was charged that on July 2, 2013, he engaged in money laundering in that he had in his possession $9 498 Barbados currency and $40 US currency being the proceeds of crime; that on October 24, 2013, he engaged in money laundering in that he had in his possession $647 Barbados currency being the proceeds of crime; and that between December 31, 2012, and October 18, 2013, he engaged in money laundering in that he engaged in transactions involving money totalling $91 452 Barbados currency being the proceeds of crime.
Jean-Baptiste was charged that between August 22, 2011, and July 30, 2012, he counselled Catlyn to commit the offence of money laundering and that between those same dates, he engaged in money laundering in that he received money totalling $9 200, being the proceeds of crime.
Both men were charged that between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2017, they together conspired to commit the offence of money laundering.
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale SC is representing the state in the matter, while Jean-Baptiste and Catlyn are represented by Senior Counsels Andrew Pilgrim and Arthur Holder, respectively.
The two are scheduled to return to court on January 31, 2024.
A 52-year-old man has been remanded to Dodds Prison on ammunition charges.
Sean Dacosta Watson of Vine Street, St Michael, was not required to plead to the indictable offence of having 50 rounds of ammunition on December 11, 2023, when he appeared before Magistrate Alison Burke in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court recently.
He also pleaded not guilty to possession, intent to supply and trafficking of 55.07 grammes of cannabis valued at $278, possession of 74 grammes of cocaine valued at $3 700 and possession of 0.55 grammes of meth valued at $11, on the same date.
A man and woman from 3rd Avenue, Marshall Gap, New Orleans, St Michael are facing cannabis and cocaine charges.
Appearing before Magistrate Alison Burke in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court, Rohan Hewitt, 41, and Shekinah Shiaeka Cornibert, 37, denied possession, intent to supply and trafficking of 194 grammes of cannabis valued at $970 and possession of 233 grammes of cocaine valued at $11 650, on December 12, 2023.
Cornibert is also charged with possession, intent to supply and trafficking of 39.15 kilogrammes of cannabis valued at $313 200, on the same date. She was not required to plead to the indictable offence.
Hewitt was granted $8 000 bail, while a bail amount of $100 000 was imposed on Cornibert.
A man on disability pension has been sentenced to pay the court $15 000 in one year or spend the same amount of time in Dodds Prison after pleading guilty to several cannabis-related charges.
Appearing before Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes on Monday, 55-year-old Roger Wendell Haynes of Lot A, Three Houses, St Philip admitted to importing and trafficking 6.85 kilogrammes of the drug with an estimated street value of $54 800, on December 15, 2023.
He also pleaded guilty to possession, trafficking and intent to supply 22 grammes of the drug, valued at $110, and to the possession of apparatus intended for the use of marijuana on the same day.
The District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court heard that Haynes had made arrangements to ship a barrel into Barbados, and on December 14, 2023, went to the shipping agency and paid to clear it. The next day, the barrel was examined by customs personnel and seven vacuum-sealed packages were found. Police were summoned.
Later that day, police carried out a search at Haynes’ home where they found two jars and a white pan containing cannabis in his bathroom and one jar and a cigarette pack with the drug in his bedroom wardrobe.
He told police, “I know bout the drugs. Dem is mine. Dem is marijuana.”
Haynes, who had no previous convictions, was reprimanded and discharged on the counts other than importation for which Magistrate Weekes slapped him with a $15 000 fine.
Explaining to the court that he was on disability pension, he asked the court to extend the time for him to pay the money.
“Importation into the country, especially at a time when people are bringing in much-needed food and other items, is a distraction and more hard work for the customs officials, unnecessarily so. Sir, you are receiving a pension from the state, which concerns me…. I do not know what would have prompted you, after the state has sacrificed . . . to want to even contemplate bringing in drugs to the place. I will tell you that it is because of your disability that the court will take the position of extending the usual time it gives to pay this fine,” the judge said, while warning Haynes to find legal means to pay the fee.
While one of the Taitt brothers has fully paid his compensation order for attacking their other sibling five years ago, the other was reminded that he has less than four months to clear his balance or face 346 days in prison.
Enoch and Nathaniel Taitt reappeared before Madam Justice Pamela Backles in the No. 5 Supreme Court last Friday to give updates on the progress of their payments.
In April this year, the two were ordered to pay $5 000 each in compensation in 12 months or face the alternative prison term for unlawfully and maliciously inflicting serious bodily harm on Simon Foster, their brother, on November 22, 2018.
The two residents of Hope Road, St Lucy are represented by attorney Neville Reid who informed the court that while Enoch had fully paid up, Nathaniel had faced some difficulties in doing so as he was unemployed.
He told the court that Nathaniel had already paid $1 800 and recently got a job so would work to clear the balance before the due date.
Justice Beckles said, however, that according to court records, a balance of $3 500 was left outstanding and she urged him to settle that as quickly as possible.
“Right now, you have one foot over there at the prison because you have hardly made any payment at all,” she pointed out.
In addition to being ordered to pay compensation, the Taitt brothers were given a two-year suspended sentence.
The matter will be up for review again on April 5, 2024.
Regarding the incident that landed two of the three brothers in trouble, the court had heard that they were at home when Nathaniel insulted Simon, causing the latter to slap him with the flat side of a sword. There was a struggle between the two and Simon sustained cuts on his left hand.
Later in the evening, as he took a shower, Simon heard someone spraying under the bedroom floor, causing him to cough, and as he attempted to go through the bedroom window, he saw his brothers, one armed with a stick and the other with a sword. Nathaniel threw a stone, which struck him in the face, and when Foster jumped out of the window towards Nathaniel, Enoch ran Foster across the street and chopped him several times about the body.
Foster received multiple lacerations to his body and a fracture to his skull.
Madam Justice Pamela Beckles will give her summation on Tuesday in Supreme Court No. 5 in the aggravated burglary trial of three Wildey, St Michael men before handing the case over to the nine-member jury.
Jabarry Stefan Roach and Kemaro O’Neil Harris, both of Block 4H, Rock Close, and Pierre Ramon Belle of Block 6G, Field Road are accused of entering Chutney’s and RB’s Rotisserie on July 20, 2018, and stealing $4 942.10 belonging to ESC Incorporated; a $2 000 cell phone and $30 case belonging to Persuadia Powlett; and a $1 200 cell phone belonging to D’Andrea Burrowes. It is alleged they had a firearm, knife, and a box cutter at the time.
Attorney Corey Beckles is representing Roach, attorney Kevin Miller is representing Harris and attorney Shadia Simpson represents Belle, while Principal State Counsel Olivia Davis and State Counsel Eleazar Williams are prosecuting.
Oliver Chesterfield Fields’ rape trial will continue in Supreme Court 4A in the new year.
Fields, 71, of Edey Village, Christ Church, has pleaded not guilty to having sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent, knowing that she did not consent or was reckless as to whether she consented, on September 28, 2020.
The complainant told the nine-member jury that Fields, who had been a longtime family friend, was working at her home tiling the shower when he raped her in the bathroom, while her husband was out.
Several witnesses, including the complainant’s son and husband and police officers, have already given evidence.
The matter is being heard before Madam Justice Wanda Blair. The case is being prosecuted by Senior State Counsel Joyann Catwell and State Counsel Maya Kellman.
Fields is represented by attorneys Neville Reid and Kristin Vanderpool.
The trial is scheduled to restart on January 9, 2024.
A 35-year-old general worker is now on remand at Dodds Prison after being accused of several charges, including breaking into an enforcement area and stealing over $52 000 in cannabis.
Gregory Junior Simpson of 1st Avenue Clerpark, St James, appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, charged that having entered the building known as Goddards Catering Group Services as a trespasser, stole therein two suitcases valued at $150, 6.55 kilogrammes of cannabis valued at $52 400, and a quantity of clothing valued at $200, between September 3 and 4, 2023.
He was also charged with possession of, trafficking and intent to supply the drug during the same period.
Simpson, who was represented by defence attorney Harry Husbands, did not enter a plea on these charges as the matters were transferred to the District ‘B’ Magistrates’ Court at Boarded Hall and will be heard on January 11, 2024.
However, he entered a not-guilty plea to possession, trafficking and intent to supply cannabis and to 18 traffic charges, including failure to comply with stop signs along several St Michael roads, failure to pull over upon hearing a police siren, and driving without insurance and driver’s licence, all on December 16.
The traffic matters will be heard on January 12, 2024, in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court.
Court prosecutor Sergeant Randolph Boyce objected to bail due to the serious nature of the offence, saying the burglary was an attack on the state and the security of the country.
He also pointed out that Simpson was out on bail on another matter and expressed fears that he would not return to court if granted bail.
However, Husbands stated that there was no evidence to suggest that his client would not return to court and asked that stringent bail conditions be instead put in place so that Simpson could go home to his family, some of whom had come in from overseas for his brother’s funeral which was being held as the case was being heard.
Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes agreed with the prosecution and remanded the accused until January 16, 2024.
