The Tribune

By Farah Johnson

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 37-year-old man was charged in the Magistrate’s court on Friday with assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest.

Delano Saunders appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes after he was accused of assaulting PC 2012 Newton and resisting arrest on March 21.

He pleaded guilty and was fined $250 or one month at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services for count one, and $100 or one month at BDCS for count two. Both sentences were to run concurrently

Prosecutor Lincoln McKenzie told the court around 5pm that day, officers were dispatched to a domestic dispute. When they arrived, they saw the defendant engaged in a heated argument with his girlfriend. Sgt McKenzie said when Officer Newton tried to intervene, Saunders pushed him. He was then told that he would be placed under arrest and reacted by resisting violently.

During the hearing, Saunders was represented by attorney Bernard Ferguson. He told the magistrate the incident came out of a “domestic matter” that ran “deep” between Saunders and his child’s mother. Stating that his client had not wasted the court’s time by pleading guilty at his first opportunity, he also asked Magistrate Forbes not to impose a custodial sentence, but instead to warn Saunders to avoid contact with his ex-girlfriend who “was trying to provoke him".

As a result, Saunders was fined $350 or one month in prison. Magistrate Forbes also told him that if he felt he was being provoked in the future, he should use common sense and remove himself from the situation to avoid more serious charges being brought against him.