The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A 37-year-old man who claimed he violated the curfew because he was helping a friend clean up garbage was fined $1,500.

Police arrested Denville Ramsey after they found him on Meadow Street around 3.45 am on August 4.

During his arraignment before Magistrate Samuel McKinney, Ramsey pleaded guilty but said he was only outdoors because he was "coming from work helping a friend with garbage cleaning".

It was his second violation, according to evidence led in court yesterday.

The court heard officers were on mobile patrol in the Meadow Street area when they observed a Suzuki Swift driven by a lone male. When they stopped the vehicle and questioned the driver, he said he was dropping somebody home. Ramsey was subsequently arrested and taken to a nearby station where admitted to the offence in an interview with police.

After accepting Ramsey's guilty plea, Magistrate McKinney noted how the defendant was previously charged for breaching the curfew in May. Stating it appeared as if Ramsey did not learn his lesson when he was fined $500 or three months in prison at the time, he tripled the fine.

As a result, Ramsey was fined $1,500 or six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Magistrate McKinney also placed the defendant on probation for one month and warned him if he appeared in court for curfew violations again, he would be sentenced to three months behind bars.