The Tribune

By PAVEL BAILEY

A WOMAN and a man were arraigned in a Magistrate’s Court yesterday in connection with a drug related charge.

Keva Smith, 20, represented by Audrey Bullard-Bonamy, and Omar Johnson, 42, stood before Senior Magistrate Samuel McKinney on charges of possession of dangerous drugs.

At around 4.30pm on May 23 at Smith’s residence on Ethel Street, officers, acting on a search warrant, discovered suspected drugs in the bathroom’s toilet bowl.

These drugs were contained in 12 zip lock baggies and two foil wrappings and were later positively identified as 7 oz of Indian Hemp.

After Smith’s arrest, she admitted in a police interview to trying to flush the drugs down the toilet.

In court, she pleaded guilty to the charge against her while Johnson pleaded not guilty.

During her plea of mitigation, Attorney Bullard-Bonamy pointed out that her client had no prior convictions and that Smith only tried to flush the drugs as she realized the consequences of her actions.

After Smith’s arrest Bullard-Bonamy said that her client was remorseful for what she had done and promised to never do it again.

Smith’s attorney continued her plea by highlighting that the accused did well in high school, completing her BGCSEs. As such, she said that Smith deserves a chance to pursue tertiary education in business.

With that and Smith’s early plea of guilt in mind, Bullard-Bonamy implored the court for leniency and asked that they place her client on probation and conditional discharge.

In view of this Magistrate McKinney gave Smith a second chance to be a productive citizen by putting her on probation for a year.

Failing this would result in the accused having to pay a $500 fine or spending three months in prison for any future offence.

Smith’s co-accused Johnson was discharged in the matter.