Magistrate extends Sandys man’s curfew

Make text smaller Make text larger

Cabinet Minister Michael Scott went to a client’s defence in Magistrates’ Court yesterday, against a charge of breaching bail.

Desmond Trott, 30, of Cooks Hill Lane, Sandys, was hit with an 8pm to 8am curfew on April 26, after being charged with intruding on the privacy of a woman.

However, following a September 1 curfew breach, Mr Trott was picked up twice by police, on September 4 and 9 — again for being out after 8pm.

Fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet after September 4, Mr Trott was caught last Friday after being detained in the City Hall car park, by a woman who suspected him of taking a bag.

That third count occurred after he had been arrested, which Mr Scott, a lawyer by trade, argued was inherently unfair.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner threatened to confine Mr Trott to his home for 24 hours a day.

“On all three occasions, his excuse was something to do with the bus,” Mr Warner said, noting that the accused man had claimed he couldn’t get home in time because he had been repeatedly refused aboard.

Mr Scott, the Government Estates Minister and a former Justice Minister, responded that it was discriminatory and that bus drivers had no right to ban his client from public transport.

Mr Warner replied: “I know by reading the newspaper that bus drivers have some power not to allow certain people on the bus, based on their behaviour.

“If that’s the case with him, then he must, in complying with his bail, make other arrangements.”

The Senior Magistrate added that “being restricted to his home 24 hours a day beats being in Westgate”.

Offering a compromise, Mr Scott got Mr Warner to agreed to confine Mr Trott to his home between 4pm and 6am.

Make text smaller Make text larger

Take Our Poll