BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, (CMC) – Barbadian Magistrate Manila Renee has given a 74-year-old attorney, Hilary Jefferson Nelson, until Friday to return to the island’s court with his sureties to sign his bail or be sent to prison.
Nelson is on trial in Barbados and stands accused of stealing £347, 560.90 (One GBP=US$1.26 cents) over the period November 13, 2018, to March 4, 2019.
“This is nearly a million dollars; this is not something to sneeze at. This is a lot of money,” she told Nelson, who has pleaded not guilty to the offense.
He had appeared in court with one of two sureties but after the magistrate discovered that the surety present was scheduled to travel overseas on Friday, she ruled her unsuitable, insisting that a surety must be on the island to ensure the accused person attends court.
Magistrate Renee pointed out that Nelson is a lawyer with perhaps double her years’ experience and he should know how the process works.
“I am giving you time to get suitable sureties. You could even bring three if you want. I giving you until Friday. You could come back tomorrow, you could back Wednesday, but bring sureties to sign. When your matter is called up (on Friday) and there are no sureties, you will be sent to jail.”
In 2019, Nelson was granted BDS$400,000 (one Barbados dollar-US$0.50 cents) bail with two sureties. He also had to surrender his travel documents.