A 20-year-old miner was yesterday fined $10,000 or six months imprisonment for using threatening language towards a Stabroek News photographer.

When he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson yesterday, Desmond Rigby of 63 Middle Street, Mc Doom, East Bank Demerara, pleaded not guilty at first to making use of threatening language towards Jules Gibson on January 5 at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

According to Rigby he was being led into the court lockups with his jersey over his head when Gibson “tek my photo like 15 times.”

He told the magistrate he does not like having his picture taken and was taken to the Brickdam Police Station where he apologised to Gibson.

Meanwhile, Police Prosecutor Inspector Stephen Telford said that on the day in question the defendant was being escorted to the lockups by the police when the Virtual Complainant, who is a journalist, took his photo without permission, which is a criminal offence. The defendant became annoyed and told the VC that he was going to damage him, Telford further told the court. A report was made and the defendant was subsequently arrested, told of the allegation to which he admitted and he was later charged with the offence.

However, Rigby told the court that was not what he did to Gibson, “I did him something but it didn’t catch him.” When asked by the magistrate what was the something he did, Rigby said, “I spit on he but it ain’t catch him, it touch he shoe.”

Gibson declined to say anything. And Rigby told the magistrate that he did not see the proceedings making any sense since he was already serving 18 months for a wounding charge, which he said he got because of a Kaieteur News report.

The magistrate told him that he has to decide what he wants to do and he responded, “My life don wasted…” before changing his plea to guilty.

The magistrate told Rigby that his life was not wasted and he should use the time in jail to think about it and change his life.