Tourist fined $2,000 for drugs

An American tourist was fined $2,000 for bringing cannabis and cocaine to the Island in Magistrates?Court last Friday.

Mitchell Lawrence Asch, 47, of West Orange, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to importing 3.33 grams of cannabis and 0.29 grams of cocaine. Asch was arrested at 3.30 p.m. on August 2 at the Airport in the arrivals hall. Police had found a suspicious plant material in a white plastic bottle and noted he put his hand ?nervously? in his right front pocket.

Another white plastic bottle was found with suspicious plant material and a white paper twist with a white powder. The items were examined by the Government Analyst and found to be cocaine and cannabis.

?I want to apologise to the court and the country for my irresponsible and thoughtless act,? Asch said Friday. Magistrate Tokunbo fined him $1,000 for the importation of cannabis and another $1,000 for the cocaine.

Driver hit the wrong pedal

A Southampton man with two previous convictions for impaired driving told a Magistrate he ?went to hit the brake and ended up hitting the gas pedal? and crashed his truck. He was fined $1,000 and banned from driving all vehicles for a year.

Raymond George Lima, 41, of Horseshoe Lane, pleaded guilty to refusing to give Police a sample of his breath on July 22 following the accident.

He pleaded not guilty to driving while impaired on the same date, but the Prosecution dropped this charge.

Crown counsel Cindy Clarke said that at 10.40 p.m. Police responded to a single vehicle accident and found a light truck with damage to its front end. Lima?s speech was very slurred, she said.

?I had a few drinks after work,? Lima told Police. ?I went to hit the brake and ended up hitting the gas pedal.?

Woman admits to burglary

A Southampton woman, caught in the act of stealing a handbag from a residence, pleaded guilty to burglary on Friday in Magistrates? Court.

Jacqueline Dillas, 40, of Riviera Estate, Southampton, was caught stealing a Louis Vuitton bag worth $125 which has $53 in cash inside of it.

She also pleaded guilty onFriday to having in her possession an instrument of housebreaking ? a screwdriver.

The defendant broke into the home through an unlocked door, the court heard. She took the purse but was caught by a resident and restrained until Police arrived.

?This defendant is known to the courts,? said Crown counsel Cindy Clarke. Dillas has had 14 convictions for stealing offences in the last five years.

Dillas asked the court to sentence her to drug treatment because she has a cocaine problem. Magistrate Tokunbo told her that she would be assessed to see if she is suitable for the drug court programme.

Unrepentant housebreaker sent to prison

An unrepentant housebreaker showed no emotion as he was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of breaking and entering in Magistrates? Court on Monday.

Devin Kenneth Smith, 20, of no fixed abode, refused to apologise for stealing a laptop computer worth $1,980, a black knapsack worth $30 and $40 cash from the Sandys home of Charles Squire on July 23. He also admitted to breaking into an office at Lantana Resort in Sandys on the same day and stealing $85 worth of Memorex compact discs.

Crown counsel Anthony Blackman said Smith had broken his three-year probation sentence for a prior breaking and entering conviction. ?The defendant needs a sharp shock,? he said. ?I do not believe he should be walking around free doing what he is doing.?

After Smith refused to apologise for his actions, Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner chastised him. ?These are serious offences on two separate properties. In terms of sentencing I must consider your previous convictions.? Mr. Warner said. ?You committed breaking and entering while on probation, therefore I see see no other way of dealing with you. I sentence you to 12 months imprisonment.?

He also sentenced him to three months default time for several unpaid traffic offences, to run concurrently with his other sentence.

Bouncer assaulted after denying man entry

A White Horse Tavern bouncer lost two teeth over the Cup Match weekend after a 20-year-old St. George?s man was denied entry because of inappropriate dress.

Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo told Richai Tesser (White Rat) Dickinson, 20, of Clarence Street: ?Violence is supposed to be met with zero tolerance ? especially that type of violence.

?You sent a man to the dentist to have teeth removed because you can?t enter a place. You?re bad,? before sentencing him to one year in prison for punching Purnell Grant on August 1st.

Dickinson also admitted assaulting Steven Walsh ? another bouncer ? that night. He was arrested on August 3.

Dickinson told the court that he did not intend to cause bodily harm to any of the complainants. ?I was trying to get him out of my face but he kept pushing me,? he said.

Dickinson denied further charges of assaulting another man and damaging a car at Wellington Oval on July 30. He will be tried in September.