BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A 21-year-old mother narrowly escaped spending time at Her Majesty’s Prison and was instead ordered to pay a fine as penalty for committing “uttering” offences.
Claudette Liddie of Dieppe Bay pleaded guilty to two counts of “uttering” and one count of “false pretence” and was taken before the Basseterre High Court for sentencing on Thursday, January 22.
Uttering is the act of offering a forged document to another when the offerer has knowledge that the document is forged.
According to the facts of the case, Liddie went to live with her grandmother, Ismay Edwards, in 2007 and took her St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank passbook without her permission.
The account to which the passbook was attached had approximately $11 000 and it was not until Edwards sought another book that she discovered monies had gone missing from the account. The bank and police were made aware of the missing funds.
The facts further indicate that on February 6, 2007 she presented to the bank a withdrawal slip made out in the amount of $450, coupled with a letter which explained that Edwards was unable to collect the monies herself. The letter also stated that she [Liddie] should be given the money. However, the request was not granted as the bank was already on the alert.
Investigations made by the bank revealed that Liddie, on two other occasions, was able to get a total of $1 960 from Edwards’ account. Consequently, charges were brought against her.
Liddie pleaded guilty to all charges and at her sentencing hearing her father spoke on her behalf and begged the court to exercise leniency. He also told the court that he did not think his daughter acted on her own but was influenced.
The mother of two told the court that she was not working when she committed the offence, but remained unresponsive when asked by Justice Francis Belle what she did with the money.
Justice Belle said, according to information he received, Liddie was convicted of a similar offence at the Magistrate’s Court last year and had until December 31, 2008 to pay a $2 580 compensatory fee or serve six months imprisonment.
Liddie admitted to the court that she had not begun settling that bill, which meant she was in direct contravention of the court’s order.
His Lordship said while he took into consideration that Liddie is a mother, he was concerned with the fact that she was in default of the court and should be heading to jail.
Liddie was ordered to pay $1 960 compensation to her grandmother and, on the first count, she was fined $1 800. The monies must be paid within 12 months or an 18-month custodial sentence would be imposed.
The teary-eyed young lady was not allowed to leave the courtroom until information pertaining to the settlement of the outstanding compensatory fee ordered by the Magistrate’s Court was received by the High Court.
Sometime later, her father returned to the courtroom and His Lordship was informed that he paid his daughter’s outstanding fine. She was then allowed to leave the court.
