BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DERRICK HAZEL, a resident of Crab Hill, yesterday (Mar. 9) had two charges laid against dismissed at the District ‘B’ Magistrate’s Court in Sandy Point.
Hazel was charged on May 6, 2014 with “Vehicle excessively tinted contrary to Section 62(a), Sub-section 5 (b and 1) of the Vehicle Road Traffic Act Chapter 15.06 as Amended Act No. 2 of 2009 Revised Edition of 2002 of the Laws of the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis”.
He was also charged on the same day with “Wilfully obstructing Vivian Caesar, a member of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force, contrary to Section 37(2) of the Small Charge Act, Chapter 4.36 of the Revised Edition of 2009 of the Laws of the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis”.
Both incidents were allegedly committed on the Main Street in Sandy Point where Hazel was arrested and subsequently charged.
Hazel, who had always maintained his innocence, was represented by Attorney-at-Law Nassibou Butler and the charges against him were dismissed.
He contacted SKNVibes today and explained that the reason for so doing is to “let the world know I was vindicated, because it seems to be the culture of the police to send press releases of persons charged with various offences but they do not inform the public through the media houses when those persons would have had won their cases or had the charges dismissed in court”.
Hazel is of the view that regardless of how small the matter may be, the police always send the names and photographs of persons charged to local media houses, which publish the information and it is then circulated worldwide via the Internet and social media outlets.
“This is the age of advance technology and when one’s name hits the Internet, it may have far-reaching consequences, it may even go viral and one would have to find an avenue for damage control. Therefore, if the police do not inform the media when a person wins his or her case and that person goes job hunting or seeks to engage in a business deal, it is highly probable that the employer or businessperson will Google their name and find offences of which they are innocent but not stated.”
He questioned why journalists are not regularly seen in court to report on such matters and was told that apart from being restricted from attending preliminary inquiries, limitation of human resource is a major factor.
In his advice to individuals who might have had similar experience, Hazel urged that in an effort to safeguard their integrity and character, they should seek out the media to disseminate their innocence to the world.
