Youth given another chance

A young man who possessed heroin with intent to supply was spared jail after persuading a Magistrate he can turn his life around.

Vincent Jerome Robinson, 20, appeared before Khamisi Tokunbo for sentencing, having pleaded guilty on a previous occasion.

According to court documents, Police raided his home in St. Augustine Hill, Pembroke, on July 26, 2007. They interrupted a hand-to-hand drug transaction, in which Robinson was one of the persons involved. They also found 1.87 grams of heroin, which he admitted was his.

The offence was deemed by prosecutors to have occurred in a zone where increased penalties apply, as it is near a playground and Victor Scott Primary School.

Asking for a non-custodial sentence, defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher described Robinson as an intelligent young man with promise.

She said things went wrong for him when he was suspended from Florida Air Academy, but he has since obtained his GED.

"What he needs is a male authority figure of some stature who can point him in the right direction," she said, arguing that this could be achieved through a probation order.

"It doesn't have to go this way. The boy's too smart and intelligent for this — to indulge in this sort of lifestyle where he deals with this sort of substance, or any sort of substance."

Robinson apologised to his family, and said a month spent on remand at Westgate gave him the opportunity to think about his life and decide that he wants to get back on track.

Sentencing him to a 12-month prison sentence, but suspending it for two years, Mr. Tokunbo said: "I try to make every attempt to save those that ought to be saved and have a lot of potential and have otherwise been clean and of previous good character.

"Those that are youthful, that have exercised indiscretion and poor judgement. You are obviously an intelligent young man with a lot of potential. You knew what you were doing. You gambled and lost."

Man, 50 , jailed for school break-in

A man who broke into a school has been jailed for a year.

Richard Allen targeted Purvis Primary in Warwick over the weekend of March 7-10. Staff arrived on the Monday morning to find a window broken, mail opened and various items shuffled around. Nothing was stolen.

Police found Allen's fingerprints at the scene and arrested him on March 20 on suspicion of burglary.

The 50-year-old quarry worker, who has similar previous convictions, told officers his boss was overseas and he committed the crime because he could not get paid.

He pleaded guilty and apologised to the court.

Trial date set for alleged knife possession

A man who allegedly possessed a knife with an eight-inch blade in Front Street on Good Friday has denied a charge of weapon possession.

Tory Robinson, 28, of Crawl Point Lane, Hamilton Parish, will go on trial on July 9.

No details of the alleged offence were given during his brief appearance at Magistrates' Court, and Robinson was granted $2,000 bail.

In a separate matter, he was also fined $300 for speeding at 61 kph on January 9.