BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A young man from Challengers Village was on Friday (Aug. 24) sentenced to two years imprisonment and two others from Cayon were yesterday (Aug. 27) fined for possession of illegal drugs.
Dale Hazel of Challengers Village was charged with larceny, an offence he committed on Thursday, August 16, 2012, and on appearance at the Basseterre Magistrate’s Court was found guilty and sentenced to two years imprisonment with hard labour.
A release from the Police Press and Public Relations Office only stated the offence with which he was charged and the findings of the court.
This publication however did a background check and found that at the 2012 May Criminal Assizes, Hazel had appeared before His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas charged with one count of burglary, one count of larceny and one count of receiving.
He however pleaded guilty to receiving and had the two other charges dropped.
Fortunately, he was spared jail time and fined EC$2 000, which was to be paid within six months or serve two years at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP).
Meanwhile, Jermaine Dore and Damien Mitcham of Cayon appeared yesterday morning before Her Worship Josephine Mallelieu-Webbe at the Basseterre Magistrate’s Court charged with possession of cannabis.
They were both fined EC$500. However, while Mitcham was told that if he were to pay the fine within one day there would be no criminal record to his name because he was a first offender, Dore was given one week to pay his or serve a one-month imprisonment because of his previous convictions.
The court was told that Dore, as a juvenile, was charged and convicted for throwing missiles and was sentenced to perform community service. He was charged with carrying abroad an offensive weapon and was placed on probation, and was sentenced to serve three months at HMP for harassment of a lady.
According to the evidence presented in court by Corporal Carl Greaux in the possession of cannabis charges, while members of the Delta Squad were conducting a mobile patrol in Upper Cayon at approximately 5:10 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, 2012, he noticed that Mitcham and Dore was acting in a suspicious manner and they went into a shop.
Greaux told the court that he went into the shop in search of the two young men and found them within a side room amongst a number of other men.
He explained that a search of Dore’s person revealed two transparent ziplock bags containing vegetable materials that, when tested, proved to be cannabis sativa. Mitcham was also searched and he was found with a rolled, partly-burnt cigarette hidden in his shoes, which also proved to be cannabis sativa.
Greaux also explained that the men were arrested and taken to the Cayon Police Station, where they were charged with possession of cannabis.
