Chief Justice the Hon. Mr. Austin Ward yesterday sent an 18-year-old Sandys Parish man to prison for 18 months for beating two Policemen.

Kyle Desmond Baxter, of Bob's Valley Lane, had pleaded guilty in February to assaulting P.c. Dean Stanford and P.c. Pythagoras Santiago and causing them grievous bodily harm.

The offence occurred on March 12, last year at Bob's Valley Road after the officers saw Baxter's friend, Eugene Levi Robinson, pass $5 to another man.

As Police arrested Robinson on suspicion of drug trafficking, a fight broke out and Baxter intervened.

Both officers ended up in hospital as a result of the incident.

Robinson was sentenced to eight months in prison earlier this month for his part in the melee. During Robinson's trial, Crown Counsel Mr. Philip Storr said Baxter faced more serious charges due to Robinson's actions.

Yesterday Baxter's lawyer Mr. Ed Bailey agreed.

"Maybe if he (Robinson) had cooperated with Police, Kyle Baxter would not be before the court today,'' Mr. Bailey told Mr. Justice Ward.

He noted that Baxter had cooperated with Police from the initial stages of the investigation.

"He realised that he did something very foolishly and had to face the consequences,'' Mr. Bailey added. "This shows that he is not a cold blooded criminal. He was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.'' Mr. Bailey said his client had "also saved taxpayers thousands of dollars by pleading guilty''.

Baxter spontaneously reacted to what he believed to be an injustice, Mr.

Bailey said.

Teenager imprisoned "He felt there was some unfairness that his friend was on the ground and that an injustice was being done.

"I put it down to a young man whose judgment was probably clouded by the fact that Police had frequently come to this area to search these young men.'' However, Mr. Bailey said Baxter showed true remorse by pleading guilty and cooperating with Police.

This, he said, was noted in Probation Services' social inquiry report.

"The report noted that he felt he should have just stayed out of it and filed charges against the officers,'' Mr. Bailey said.

The report also showed that Robinson came from a single-parent home, did not graduate from high school, and therefore had a hard time finding a job, he added.

But Mr. Justice Ward said: "Disadvantaged people in this society have to realise nobody is going to give them anything. There's no manna from heaven and in order to achieve, they will have to work for it.'' Baxter asked Mr. Justice Ward for leniency.

"I'm very sorry,'' he said. "During the two months that I was incarcerated, I had time to think of what I did and with all the thinking that I've been doing, what I came to is that I made a foolish mistake and I'm asking for you to be as lenient as possible with me.'' Noting the maximum fine for such an offence was 10 years, Mr. Justice Ward sentenced Baxter to concurrent 18 month prison sentences for each count.

A large crowd attacked Police with bottles and other objects as they attempted to make a drug arrest on Thursday.

The incident occurred around 2.45 a.m. on Elliott Street as Police were arresting a 19-year-old for possession of drugs.

One officer was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital with cuts and abrasions. Two men were arrested.