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AA employee admits threats against Customs officer

An airline employee who threatened a Customs officer told Magistrates’ Court he’d “reached boiling point” after getting checked one too many times.Berlyn Rogers, 25, of North Shore Road, Devonshire, was given a conditional discharge for the tirade at officer Edwin Simons on November 19, 2012.Rogers admitted saying “You f***king Customs officers better watch out — wait till you get outside” and “You don’t know me; I will f**k you up”.According to Crown counsel Takiyah Burgess, Rogers, who works for American Airlines, was standing in the queue for passengers with nothing to declare at LF Wade International Airport’s arrivals hall, when Mr Simons called him over for a compliance check.Asked about his recent trip, Rogers allegedly said: “F**king Customs officers. You get a badge and think you can do whatever you like.”Following a luggage inspection, the officer asked Rogers if his phone was registered with Customs, to which he said: “No. Why? Are you going to take it? You f**king Customs irritate me.”Apologising to the court, Rogers said he travelled frequently because of his job, adding: “I get screened almost 100 percent.”Lawyer Victoria Pearman said Rogers, who’d returned from New York feeling unwell, had “a bit of a history” with the officer and felt he was being picked on.Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo gave Rogers a six-month conditional discharge, telling him: “They have a job to do. I can understand it might be irritating, but you have to deal with it better than that.”