Man pleads guilty to criminal charges

A man, who sells condoms for a living, was sentenced to three months in prison when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Monday.

Pleading guilty to criminal trespassing and resisting arrest is 35-year-old Rohan Davy of a Kingston 20 address.

According to reports, on September 19 around 2 a.m., Davy was caught trespassing on the premises of a doctor’s office located on Ripon Road, Kingston 5. He was accosted by the police, but managed to wriggle his body away from an officer and ran.

The accused was held shortly after on Oxford Road in the area.

Davy told the court that he was in the Ripon Road area because he sells condoms to sex workers. He also admitted to Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey that he has appeared before the court for a similar offence earlier this year.

“I explained to the other judge that I was tired and I drop asleep over there and she tell me be careful and fined me five grand,” he said.

“Well, I’m going to send you to prison for it. I know what you were doing over there and you know that I know what you were doing over there,” RM Pusey stated.

After RM Pusey handed down the sentencing, Davy pleaded, “I can’t just pay a fine Your Honour?”

He was sentenced to three months in prison for the criminal trespassing and 10 days in prison for resisting arrest, the sentences are to run consecutively.

View the original article here

Man pleads guilty to criminal charges

Kamla wants criminal investigation into Trinidad Lifesport Programme

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Friday July 25, 2014, CMC – Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar Friday said she had asked her Attorney General Anand Ramloan to hand over copies of the audit of the controversial Lifesport programme to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Commissioner of Police “to investigate, detain and prosecute those guilty to the fullest extent of the law”.

Persad Bissessar told Parliament that the audit had revealed a number of discrepancies including procurement breaches; the involvement of some persons in criminal activities; fraud by suppliers; theft of equipment; breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act and a deviation from the mandates of Cabinet.

Former National Security Minister Austin Jack Warner, who described the programme as a “cess pool of corruption” said that in another country, the Minister of Sport, Anil Roberts would have resigned.

The main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) has filed a motion in the Parliament calling for the censure of Roberts as a result of the programme that they said was riddled with corruption.

Prime Minister Persad Bissessar, defending her government’s decision to launch the audit, said that in May, a newspaper publication brought to light allegations of wrong-doing and misuse of resources in the LifeSport programme.

“Based on the very real possibility of there being irregularities I immediately instructed that the programme be transferred to the Ministry of National Security, and that the Ministry of Finance and the Economy, through its Central Audit Committee, conduct a full audit.”

She told legislators that a thorough and focused audit has now been completed and that because the programme was intended to “positively impact some of our most vulnerable, younger citizens, I believe it is appropriate that the report of the Central Audit Unit on the LifeSport Programme be made public, by being tabled here in the House of Representatives”.

She said that the programme began in June 2012 and at the time of the audit, 43 centres had been established throughout the country to cater for young people between the ages of 16-25.

She said that the audit also raised questions regarding possible complicity by officers of the Ministry, given the widespread nature of the breaches.

“What is most shocking and disappointing, is the fact that given the usually stringent nature of the bureaucratic processes in obtaining approvals for projects, implementing programmes and monitoring progress, no action was taken to halt or prevent what the Audit Committee found”.

Persad Bissessar said that she was disappointed of having to immediately halt the programme because it was conceptualised and formulated as part of a comprehensive programme to try to roll back the tide against criminals and criminality in the country.

“It was specifically focused on saving the lives of young men who needed to be protected from the criminals who routinely preyed on them, and helping to shape positive futures for these young people.

“We see our young men as future fathers, future role models, future professionals, who need care, attention and opportunities.

“The criminals see them as pawns and as persons who could front crime and violence. To the criminal elements, these young men are a means to an end, and are, in their view expendable.”

She told legislators that given the fact that the Central Audit Committee has raised the possibility of complicity by Ministry officials, the report will be sent to the Integrity Commission and the Head of the Public Service for further investigation, consideration and action.

“Citizens of our country can rest assured that as we move forward implementing programmes meant to positively impact our communities, we will not tolerate wrong-doing, we will not tolerate corruption, and we will not tolerate the abuse of programmes meant to save our people, for selfish, personal gains.

“In fact, if there is one very important message coming out of this Audit Report is the urgent need for procurement laws to become fully operationalized,” said Persad Bissessar, who made no mention of her Sports Minister during her statement to Parliament.

View the original article here

Kamla wants criminal investigation into Trinidad Lifesport Programme

Kamla wants criminal investigation into Trinidad Lifesport Programme

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Friday July 25, 2014, CMC – Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar Friday said she had asked her Attorney General Anand Ramloan to hand over copies of the audit of the controversial Lifesport programme to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Commissioner of Police “to investigate, detain and prosecute those guilty to the fullest extent of the law”.

Persad Bissessar told Parliament that the audit had revealed a number of discrepancies including procurement breaches; the involvement of some persons in criminal activities; fraud by suppliers; theft of equipment; breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act and a deviation from the mandates of Cabinet.

Former National Security Minister Austin Jack Warner, who described the programme as a “cess pool of corruption” said that in another country, the Minister of Sport, Anil Roberts would have resigned.

The main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) has filed a motion in the Parliament calling for the censure of Roberts as a result of the programme that they said was riddled with corruption.

Prime Minister Persad Bissessar, defending her government’s decision to launch the audit, said that in May, a newspaper publication brought to light allegations of wrong-doing and misuse of resources in the LifeSport programme.

“Based on the very real possibility of there being irregularities I immediately instructed that the programme be transferred to the Ministry of National Security, and that the Ministry of Finance and the Economy, through its Central Audit Committee, conduct a full audit.”

She told legislators that a thorough and focused audit has now been completed and that because the programme was intended to “positively impact some of our most vulnerable, younger citizens, I believe it is appropriate that the report of the Central Audit Unit on the LifeSport Programme be made public, by being tabled here in the House of Representatives”.

She said that the programme began in June 2012 and at the time of the audit, 43 centres had been established throughout the country to cater for young people between the ages of 16-25.

She said that the audit also raised questions regarding possible complicity by officers of the Ministry, given the widespread nature of the breaches.

“What is most shocking and disappointing, is the fact that given the usually stringent nature of the bureaucratic processes in obtaining approvals for projects, implementing programmes and monitoring progress, no action was taken to halt or prevent what the Audit Committee found”.

Persad Bissessar said that she was disappointed of having to immediately halt the programme because it was conceptualised and formulated as part of a comprehensive programme to try to roll back the tide against criminals and criminality in the country.

“It was specifically focused on saving the lives of young men who needed to be protected from the criminals who routinely preyed on them, and helping to shape positive futures for these young people.

“We see our young men as future fathers, future role models, future professionals, who need care, attention and opportunities.

“The criminals see them as pawns and as persons who could front crime and violence. To the criminal elements, these young men are a means to an end, and are, in their view expendable.”

She told legislators that given the fact that the Central Audit Committee has raised the possibility of complicity by Ministry officials, the report will be sent to the Integrity Commission and the Head of the Public Service for further investigation, consideration and action.

“Citizens of our country can rest assured that as we move forward implementing programmes meant to positively impact our communities, we will not tolerate wrong-doing, we will not tolerate corruption, and we will not tolerate the abuse of programmes meant to save our people, for selfish, personal gains.

“In fact, if there is one very important message coming out of this Audit Report is the urgent need for procurement laws to become fully operationalized,” said Persad Bissessar, who made no mention of her Sports Minister during her statement to Parliament.

View the original article here

Kamla wants criminal investigation into Trinidad Lifesport Programme

Senate beging debate on Criminal Records Act

The Jamaian Senate on Friday morning commenced debate on amendments to the Criminal Records Act. This is in keeping with the Government’s move to clear the records of persons caught with small quantities of  ganja.

The debate was opened by Justice Minister Senator Mark Golding.

The bill makes provision for automatic expungement of  convictions for certain minor ganja related offences. It states that where a fine has been imposed for smoking ganja, it should not be entered on the criminal record of  the offender. Mr Golding said that the expungement will apply to previous and future records.

It was on June 12 that Senator Golding announced a number of changes to the country’s highly restrictive anti-ganja regime, including the decriminalisation of possession of small quantities of the substance, and for the expungement of criminal records relating to such offences.

View the original article here

Senate beging debate on Criminal Records Act

It is a criminal offence to share child porn, OCA warns

Wednesday, January 29, 2014 | 8:07 PM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Office of The Children’s Advocate (OCA) is advising the public that the sharing of child pornographic material is a criminal offence.

The OCA issued the reminder in light of reports of the circulation of pornographic content involving schoolgirls from a Clarendon-based school on popular social media site Facebook.

“It is very distressing to learn that there are persons in society, particularly adults, who are sharing and posting child pornographic material through email or on popular social media sites such as Facebook. This is act is intolerable, illegal and unacceptable,” Children’s Advocate, Diahann Gordon Harrison declared.

Gordon Harrison charged that the practice dehumanises children and “erodes the moral fabric of society.”

“If it is that we receive reports of such acts, and where possible, we have absolutely no objection in assisting the Police to bring these perpetrators to book. As a society we must find ways to assist our children and steer them toward a morally upstanding path, one which is befitting of a society we wish to lead,” Gordon Harrison insisted.

“It is time that we end this culture and obsession of sexually exploiting our children, and do away with the ‘a jus lickle sex, nutten nuh wrong wid dat mentality’,” the Children’s Advocate argued.

Like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jamaicaobserver

Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/JamaicaObserver

View the original article here

It is a criminal offence to share child porn, OCA warns

Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence?

IF you’ve ever applied for a visitor’s visa, you’ve been asked this question. If you work in a regulated industry, like financial services or insurance, you’ve had to answer this question. If you’ve even registered with an online dating website (I’ve been told) you’ve probably been asked — “Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence?” You’d think that this is a straightforward yes or no matter, but it’s actually more complex than that. If you’ve ever been convicted of an offence, including minor traffic offences, or if you’ve ever put that question to a potential employee, this article is for you.

Too often, especially in a relatively small society like Jamaica, a criminal record is akin to a life sentence. Even after you’ve paid the fine or served the time, the record is stuck on you like a lewd Vybz Kartel tune. That’s why we have the Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act, the purpose of which is to specify a period after which the convicted person is treated as having been rehabilitated and the conviction is treated as spent. Under the Act, a conviction is spent:*after three years, where the conviction does not include imprisonment;*after five years, where the conviction includes imprisonment for less than six months;*after eight years, where the conviction includes imprisonment for between six and 18 months;*after 10 years, where the conviction includes imprisonment for more than 18 months but less than three years.In each case, time begins to run from the end of the prison term, the payment of the fine, or compliance with any other condition, for example, community service. Under the Act, a person whose conviction is spent is required to disclose the details of that conviction, if asked, when seeking to become a member of certain professions, including lawyers, doctors, accountants, nurses and teachers. Similarly, disclosure is also required if applying for certain types of employment, including a judge, police officer, private security guard, soldier, banker, insurance agent and stockbroker. Noticeably absent from the list of professions requiring disclosure are politicians (presumably the political party will deal with them) and Ministers of Religion (presumably God will deal with them).One may apply to have a spent conviction expunged after a further period of rehabilitation ranging from three to 10 years depending on the sentence. That application is heard by the Criminal Records Board. At that point, it’s almost as if the conviction never happened at all. Almost.In this, the Information Age, a person’s record isn’t stored only in a Government office. It’s taking up cyberspace. It’s residing on the servers of the media houses that reported on the case. It’s tagging you on Facebook and hash-tagging you on Twitter. It may not matter, therefore, that it’s an offence under the Act for someone to maliciously disclose the fact that a person was convicted of an offence after that conviction is spent or expunged. You can’t sue the Internet. The fact is, now more than ever, employers are performing background checks on Google before checking with the Criminal Records Office.Employers ought to be aware that, by law, it’s an offence to refuse to hire, or to dismiss someone, because of a spent or expunged conviction if the employer has reasonable cause to suspect that the conviction is spent or has been expunged and the convicted person was not obliged to disclose the conviction. This raises a number of important questions, including: If my business doesn’t fall into the category of professions that would require the applicant to disclose the conviction, may I still ask the question on the application form? If the applicant dishonestly and without legal justification answers that he hasn’t been convicted and I later discover the dishonesty but only after the conviction is spent, can I dismiss the employee then, and if so for what? Am I required by law to destroy an application form after a certain period of time if the form asks whether the person has been convicted? What if I only ask if the person has been charged with an offence and not whether he’s also been convicted? These are all serious and complex issues, the answers to which often depend on the particular circumstances of the case, the nature of the business and the nature of the offence.Finally, it’s important to note that convictions involving sentences for longer than three years cannot be expunged. This is good news for all the soon-to-be criminals formerly known as ‘smokers’ as they will still have the chance to maintain a healthy record, if not lungs.Gavin Goffe is a Partner at Myers, Fletcher & Gordon and a member of the Firm’s Litigation Department and Labour Law Practice Group. Gavin may be contacted at gavin.goffe@mfg.com.jm or through www.myersfletcher.com. This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.

HOUSE RULES

1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper – email addresses will not be published.

2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.

3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.

4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.

5. Please don’t use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed:mailto:advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.

6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.

7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

comments powered by

View the original article here

Have you ever been convicted of a criminal offence?