The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MAN who claimed he violated the national curfew because he passed out while trying to walk home from the bar was fined $400 yesterday.

He was among several people who appeared before Deputy Chief Magistrate Andrew Forbes for curfew and lockdown violations. Many of those charged admitted to being aware of the curfew when they were found outdoors.

Everette Knowles, 49, was charged after officers found him on Unison Road around 11.30pm on May 26. He pleaded guilty, but said he was walking home from a bar and had passed out.

He claimed that when he woke up, he asked his neighbour to call the police.

During the hearing, Knowles, who works on a farm on Cowpen Road, also admitted that he drinks “a lot.”

When the facts were read by Prosecutor Kenny Thomposn, it was revealed that on the night in question, officers observed Knowles standing in a yard. When they approached and questioned him, he told them he was at his relative’s property. Still, when the officers spoke to the owners of the home, they said they did not know who the defendant was. As a result, Magistrate Forbes told Knowles he should stop drinking if he wanted to live to see 50, because his kidneys and liver probably were not in the best health at this point in his life. He was subsequently fined $400 or two months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

Meanwhile, Kirklyn Thompson, 39, was charged after officers found him near Wilson Street around 11pm on May 25. He pleaded guilty, but was discharged after he explained that he had gone outdoors to look for his nephew who was a patient at Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre (SRC). Thompson told the magistrate that his nephew had recently been released from SRC and had a tendency to “pick up and walk” out of the house. He also claimed that he was looking for his other nephew to secure a job, in a “time when many people didn’t have any.” As a result, Magistrate Forbes told Thompson he would grant him an absolute discharge given the circumstances. Still, he urged the defendant to be more responsible with his movement during the curfew and to follow the proper protocol.

Officers found Anthon Munroe, 23, on Baillou Hill Road around 1.05am on May 27. He pleaded guilty to violating the curfew and was fined $400 or two months at BDCS. When given an opportunity to speak, Munroe told the magistrate he was staying with his girlfriend but they had an altercation which escalated so he decided to go home.

Kirvin Rolle, 23, and Dacosta Brown, 18, were charged after officers found them on Malverne Road around 11.15pm on May 22. They both pleaded guilty and were each fined $400 or two months in prison. During the hearing, the boys claimed they were only outdoors because they were talking with friends and had lost track of time.

Issac Smith, 33, and James Seymour, 43, were charged after officers found them on Tonique Williams-Darling Highway around 10.25pm. They both pleaded guilty and were each fined $400 or two months at BDCS. Prosecutor Thompson said while being interviewed at the Grove Police Station, Smith told officers he was picking up a friend from a family residence and they stopped at a convenience store on East Street to buy food. Sgt Thompson said Seymour also told officers Smith had picked him up from a family member who lived in Chippingham and the two had stopped at a shop and a parking lot to urinate before going home.

Officers found Saeed Major, 34, on Balfour Avenue around 9.45am on May 24. He pleaded guilty to violating the lockdown, but said he was carrying his girlfriend home so that she could retrieve her asthma pump. During the hearing, Major told the magistrate his girlfriend was staying with him during the weekend lockdown and had forgotten her asthma pump at home. He claimed that he was not aware of the COVID-19 hotline. In response, Magistrate Forbes told Major as a Bahamian citizen, he had the responsibility to inform himself of what was going on in the country before he made decisions. He told him he should have at least found out what the emergency orders allowed and prohibited before he left the house that day and called the COVID-19 hotline if he had a medical emergency.

He was fined $400. In default of the fine, he will serve two months in prison.