A shop vendor, a broom vendor, and a carpenter who were jointly accused of trafficking in cannabis were yesterday remanded to prison when they appeared before Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The allegation against Orin Chase, Herbert Albert and Jamal Alleyne is that on June 22 at Georgetown they had in their possession 144 grammes of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking.
The jointly charged trio denied the narcotics trafficking charge when it was read to them.
Attorney George Thomas who represented Albert and Alleyne made an application for his clients to be granted bail in reasonable sums citing that they have no antecedents, and pose no risk of flight.
In advancing the special circumstances in the bail application for his clients, Thomas said that Alleyne, a 20-year-old shop vendor of 168 James and Campbell streets, Albouystown was tending to his infant child at the material time the search was conducted by the police.
He said that the young man’s shop is located in a particular yard at the back of which the drugs were allegedly found.
The lawyer asked the court to take into account the issue of multiple occupancy, citing that the yard in which Alleyne’s shop is located and the drugs were found is occupied by a number of other persons.
Meanwhile, counsel said that Albert, 51, of Second Street, Middle Walk, Nabaclis is a broom vendor and had stopped in front the shop where the narcotics were allegedly found when he was stopped by the police.
According to Thomas, his client was vending at the time when he was approached by the police and had been in their presence at all material times when the search was conducted and they found nothing illegal on him.
Chester who was unrepresented by counsel had initially pleaded guilty to the charge.
When given a chance to speak, however, the accused stated that he knows nothing about the drugs and they did not belong to him. The carpenter said the reason he did not contest the charge was because his toolkit was in the same cupboard in which the illegal substance was found.
According to him, he only pleaded guilty to the charge because he wanted to explain himself as he was not getting the chance to.
The presiding magistrate, however, explained to the accused that he can only accept the charge if he is indeed unequivocally guilty of it. Based on his explanation, the court then had to enter a not guilty plea for him.
The prosecution objected to the men being granted their pretrial liberty, citing that its facts differ from that of the attorney. Police Corporal Simone Payne who presented the facts of the prosecution said that the three men were together in the yard where the cannabis was found in a cupboard where they were all standing.
Payne said that the find was made after the police conducted a raid at “Baij yard” located between Alexander and Regent streets.
The matter will be called again on July 6.
