A drug trafficking accused was granted bail on Monday by Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus after informing her that he was bullied to sign a caution statement.
Christoph Watts, 22, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 3, where he pleaded not guilty to a charge that on July 12th, in the vicinity of North Ruimveldt, he was allegedly in possession of 83 grammes of cannabis for trafficking.
Police prosecutor Shellon Daniels told Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus that on the day in question, police ranks, acting on information they received, went to Watts’ home and conducted a search. The cannabis was found in a shoebox under a bed in a room Watts shares with his brother, 18, and a cousin, 21.
According to Daniels, Watts admitted to being the owner of the illicit substance in a caution statement. In the statement, he says that he took it home the day before and did not inform anyone in the home of his stash.
“Them people bullying you to sign these things,” Watts, however, told the court when he was asked about it.
The magistrate asked him to elaborate and he told her the “CID beat me to sign at Brickdam Police Station.” He also told her that the police went to his house claiming he was wanted for another crime. He said they took him to the Brickdam Police Station, where they told him they had to charge him for something they found in the house. Watts had no injuries in court but he said they were inflicted the previous Friday and had healed.
Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus subsequently granted Watts his release on $100,000 bail and adjourned the matter until July 29th for statements.
