CHARLESTOWN NEVIS - A 17-year-old female of Newtown, Basseterre, St. Kitts was fined $5 000 for possession of cannabis with intent to supply.
The juvenile appeared before Magistrate Yasmine Clarke at the Charlestown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, June 15 and pleaded guilty to the charge. The fine has to be paid within three months or she would have to serve a 12-month sentence at Her Majesty’s Prison.
According to the facts of the case, on June 14, 2009, officers of the Nevis Task Force were on duty at the Charlestown ferry terminal when they observed the defendant disembarking the ferry with a black bag in her hand.
The officers approached the defendant and informed her that they were carrying out routine checks for controlled drugs and ammunition. A search was conducted and a quantity of compressed marijuana was found in an Orchard juice box within the bag she was carrying. The juvenile was transported to the Charlestown Police Station, where she was charged and cautioned. However, upon cautioning her, she told the officers that someone met her at the terminal in St. Kitts and asked her to take the bag to Nevis, where their sister would collect it from her.
Before delivering her findings on the case, the Magistrate told the juvenile of the serious nature behind the charge. And when asked from where she would get the money to pay the fine, the juvenile looked towards her mother who was seated in the courtroom.
In the same court, Kevin Williams of Hamilton Estate, Nevis, who was represented by attorney Joan Slack, escaped a prison sentence for possession of cocaine after he pleaded not guilty, but was found guilty based on the evidence presented to the court.
The prosecution’s key witness, Officer Cuthbert England, testified that on May 25, 2010 he and a number of officers went to the home of the defendant with a search warrant for cannabis and ammunition.
England noted that on entering the bathroom, a white substance, which appeared to be cocaine, was found on the rug and around the rim of the toilet bowl. The officer added that he then placed the substance in a white envelop for testing and cautioned the defendant, who replied that it was some baking soda he had used to rinse his mouth because of an extraction he had lately.
The officer also testified that on May 29, 2010 he took the substance to the government-appointed analyst, Hiram Williams, who later sent him a certificate indicating that it was cocaine. The defendant was subsequently charged with the offence.
In her cross examination of England, Slack asked the officer if he had seen the defendant throwing away anything and he replied in the negative.
The other prosecution’s witness was Officer Valentine Kelly, who testified that he also was on the search and saw the substance in the bathroom. He told the court that he heard when the defendant said it was baking soda that he used for rinsing his mouth. The officer was not cross examined.
In his defence, Williams said he had no knowledge of the cocaine at the time of his arrest but, after calling a friend who was staying at his home, he was told that he (the friend) was the one responsible for the cocaine. Williams also testified that he normally sleeps at his girlfriend’s home but got into an argument with her on the previous night, which caused him to be at his home.
“I did not even go in the bathroom since I came home,” he added.
Addressing the defendant, Magistrate Clarke said she knew many people would go in the court, hold the Bible in their hands and lie, “but this one was too bold. In the last sitting you pleaded guilty to the charge and when asked why I should not send you to prison, you replied that is only a little bit a coke. This matter could have been finished but you requested a lawyer to plea in mitigation for you”.
In his plea for mitigation, Williams said he is expecting a baby and is fully employed and do not want to go to prison.
“Normally, I would send you to prison for cocaine but I am not going to. You are convicted and fined $3 000, to be paid in three months or spend six months in prison,” Magistrate Clarke said.
