Kenroy Antoine aged 39 years of Hillsborough Street Roseau was slapped with a $500.00 dollars fine by Chief Magistrate Candia Carette-George after he pleaded guilty to being in possession of 48 grams of cannabis.
The law makes provision for one to have 28 grams of the drugs without being arrested and charged by the police.
On July 28, 2022, at about 9:30 am, a Special Constable dressed in uniform received certain information while walking near A.C Shillingford in Roseau and as a result, he confronted the accused who was inside the supermarket and told him that he had reasons to believe that he was carrying drugs and requested to search his bag.
Asked to give an account of the cannabis he told the Special Constable, “Officer, a little weed I have to smoke.”
He was arrested and taken into police custody and then officially charged.
Mitigation
In his mitigating plea, Antoine told the court that he had one cannabis tree and took several leaves from it on his way to work. When told by the Magistrate that he was only required to have 28 grams of cannabis in his possession without being arrested he replied, “I don’t know the law on Marijuana, I can’t read and write, concrete work I am doing seven days a week.”
But in response, he was told that ignorance of the law is “no excuse” and as a Marijuana smoker, he ought to appraise himself about the laws governing it.
“I went to jail for raping and theft…I make my time. I made a mistake and paid for it, he who without sin let him cast the first stone.”
He was charged $500.00 to be paid by October 31, 2022, in default two months in jail.