A miner was yesterday remanded to prison after being charged with having almost a pound and a half of marijuana on the Mabura trail.
Acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus read the possession charge to Lennox Jackman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court. It is alleged that Jackman, 32, on January 16th at Mabura, had in his possession 658 grammes (equivalent to 1.4 pounds) of marijuana for trafficking.
Jackman denied the allegation leveled against him.
According to the facts presented to the court by police prosecutor Quinn Harris, on the day in question at about 9:55 am, Corporal 21377 Aaron was escorting remanded prisoners from the Mahdia Police Station to the Lusignan prison, when, while on the Mabura trail, the defendant was observed sitting at the side of the road acting suspiciously. The prosecutor noted that Jackman was then confronted by the police while he was attempting to board a canter truck. During a search of the defendant’s haversack, under rain covers, a blue jersey containing a black parcel was found with a quantity of leaves, seeds and stems, suspected to be marijuana. Jackman was then told of the offence being committed and later escorted to the MacKenzie police station.
The prosecutor said that after being cautioned, the allegation was put to the accused, which prompted him to state, “Officer is a lil hustle I going and do.”
Jackman’s attorney, Senior Counsel Stanley Moore, gave a different version of events. He told the court that his client was walking along a pathway when a truck pulled up next to him and he requested a ride. The attorney added that there were about eight to nine persons in the truck when it was stopped and searched. During the search, Moore said, nothing was found on his client or in his haversack.
The attorney then requested that Jackman be granted reasonable bail. However, prosecutor Harris objected to bail being granted citing the penalty the charge attracts and the fact that no special reason was presented to the court by the attorney.
Jackman was later remanded to prison and is set to make his next court appearance on January 27 at the Linden Magistrate’s court.
