Kashma “Buju” Richards of Victoria Street Newtown was given a one-month jail sentence, suspended for two years after he pleaded guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct at the office of the Director of Audit on February 29, 2024.
He was told by the magistrate that the offense carries a penalty of $250.00 or one month in jail.
Brief facts
On February 29, 2024, at about 2:15 pm he entered the Audit department seeking certain information and asked to speak to the Director of Audit. He was told that she was out at a meeting but since he did not have an appointment to see her, he could make one with her secretary.
During that time, he spoke with a few staff members who tried to calm him down since he was getting very aggressive and loud causing the staff to get “frightened and scared.”
He was also spoken to by a male staff who tried to cool him down but he continued to behave in a loud and aggressive manner disrupting the staff at work.
The Director of Audit then came in but was quickly ushered away to avoid him. Although he made no threats, his loud disruptive behaviour caused staff to stop work as they felt threatened.
The police were then called and he was spoken to and left. After having interviews with several staff members who witnessed the debacle, the police sought and obtained a warrant in the First Instance and on March 3, 2024, went to the home of Richards where he was arrested on the strength of the warrant.
Mitigating
In his mitigating plea, his lawyer Ronald Charles told the court that notwithstanding the reasons for his client’s outburst on the day in question, he was assaulted resulting in the magistrate saying to him that, “that was not the place for such and he has a form of recourse if he was assaulted and that will not form part of the mitigating plea.”
Charles then told the court that his client was “a community man engaged in various football activities in the Newtown community.”
“We beg the court not to impose a custodial sentence on him, give him a reprimand given all the circumstances…we are saying a stern warning is in order,” Charles told the court. He said that his client “does not mean any harm and has been open and honest with the court given the fact that he has not wasted the court’s time, fully cooperated with the investigators, and pleaded guilty.”
Before handing down his sentence, the magistrate stated that “money was not all and the society/community is begging for role models.”
He told Richards that he would “not impose a custodial sentence on him” but he is imposing a suspended sentence and explained to him that he must not be convicted of any offense (s) under the “small charges act”, he must not misbehave in any private and or government places that will result in his arrest. “If this happens and you come to court you upon conviction must be sentenced to one month in jail in addition to whatever sentence that magistrate may impose on you,” the magistrate explained.
This suspended sentence will expire on March 4, 2026. He further advised Richards to “stay out of trouble and do not disturb persons in their workplaces.“
