A North Ruimveldt man, who said he was “de almighty god”, was yesterday sentenced to three years in prison after he admitted to having 164 grammes of cannabis in his possession for the purpose of trafficking, when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
It was alleged that Colin Richards, 30, was found with the drugs on April 23, at 3072 North Ruimveldt.
The prosecutor, Police Corporal Seon Blackman stated that on the day in question at about 17:10 hrs, police men from the narcotics branch, acting on information, went to the home of the defendant where he was seen leaving the bedroom with a bulky parcel of cloth on his head. He said that the officers followed him and observed that he threw the cloth in a clump of bushes.
Blackman added that a police rank retrieved the parcel from the bushes in the presence of the Richards and found a quantity of leaves, seeds and stem, suspected to be cannabis. He stated that when the officers asked Richards about the suspected cannabis; he told them that he plants and sells marijuana for a living.
Richards told the court that he could not understand why he was arrested and why he would be going to jail. “I am de almighty god. I should not be arrested. I was born eighteen hundred thousand years ago,” he stated.
His attorney Paul Fung-A-Fat told the court that is client is a psychiatric patient and that he is not competent to stand trial. Counsel provided the court with medical certificates. The magistrate pointed out that some dated back to the year 1958.
Fung-A-Fat asked that the matter be put down for assessment and for Richards be remanded to prison.
Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry asked the defendant several times if he accepts the police facts; which stated that he had the illegal substance in his possession for the purpose of trafficking. Richards on several occasions admitted to ownership. He also told the court that he was not mad.
He was fined $30,000 and given a sentence of three years imprisonment.
Counsel requested that he receives psychiatric treatment in prison.
