The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN who admitted for the second time to causing $1.2 million damage to the airport road was told by a magistrate that she would need time to consider the factors in his case before deciding what to do with him.

Acting Chief Magistrate Joyanne Ferguson-Pratt told 53-year-old Thomas Alexander Rigby that he would be medically and psychologically evaluated before she makes a decision on September 27.

The Watling Street resident was charged with intentionally damaging 8,700 ft of surface material valued at $1,211,396.67, the property of the Bahamas government between July 6 and July 12.

He pleaded not guilty on July 18 and was denied bail after the prosecution objected “in the best interest of the public”.

However, on his return to court on August 8, ahead of his September 16 trial, Rigby pleaded guilty to the charge and said he was aware that what he did was wrong and that he caused embarrassment for the government and Bahamians.

Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis told the man that the question of his punishment would be referred to the Supreme Court but suggested Rigby be fined no less than $250,000 and that a portion of any salaries he makes in the future be paid to the government.

However, in Rigby’s Supreme Court appearance a week later, prosecutor Anthony Delaney told Senior Justice Jon Isaacs the defendant had been charged and convicted under the wrong statute of the Penal Code.

He was charged under section 328 and not 338 where the offence carried a lesser sentence.

The Crown sought permission to have the charge amended and while there was no objection by Rigby, the judge ruled that the defendant had been brought before the court on a “flawed premise” and remitted the case back to the lower court.

Yesterday Rigby, who retained Glendon Rolle as his attorney, had no objections to the amendment and pleaded guilty, again, to the charge after electing to be tried in the magistrates’ court.

Mr Rolle, in mitigation, said Rigby was a heavy equipment operator who had been married for 15 years and had two children.

He said while his client was not unblemished, with convictions for drug possession in 2008, Rigby was a community-minded individual who did his part to help out.

The attorney said his client’s faith in God had been renewed and strengthened from an incident he is “quite remorseful for.”

He said Rigby, a diabetic and hypertensive man, had suffered stress over the past few months having been labouring on a job and struggling to provide for his family even though he went unpaid for sometime.

The attorney told the court the company Rigby was employed with had never paid any National Insurance for him over the past three years.

With regards to the damage caused to the roadway, Mr Rolle submitted that constructions of that magnitude had insurance to cover such damage and in the event it did not, his client would not ever in his lifetime be able to pay it back.

After referencing former cases, the attorney asked for a conditional discharge for his client, asking that Rigby be given counselling and allowed to contribute to community service like Urban Renewal, a programme of the government, which is

the virtual complainant in this case.

Prosecutor Delaney told the court that it had to consider the extent of the damage done and the danger of Rigby’s actions.

He told the court that in his record of interview, Rigby told police he drove his car to John F Kennedy Drive, got on a tractor and then let it go unmanned.

While accepting that Rigby pleaded guilty at the earliest convenience, he referenced a judgment from the Court of Appeal that one-third of a sentence should be taken from his term on that basis.

The acting chief magistrate said she was not prepared to make a decision without time to consider all of the factors and submissions that were made.

She ordered that a medical and psychiatric report be prepared to be given to the court on or before September 27.

Rigby was remanded to Her Majesty’s Prison until that date.