UPDATE: Paulwell indicates end to Rubis, JGRA dispute

Wednesday, January 14, 2015 | 6:36 PM    

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell says he is confident that the dispute between Rubis Energy Company and the Jamaica Gasolene Retailers Association (JGRA) will be settled by later this evening.

Paulwell told OBSERVER ONLINE a short while ago that having had discussions with Rubis, he is now engaged in consultation with the JGRA, after which he will be able to announce the terms of the agreement brokered between the marketing company and the dealers.

“I believe what was to achieve today will form the basis of settling the outstanding issues, for there to be a resolution. I’m pleased with the discussions,” he said.

The JGRA has accused Rubis of offering new contracts, with unfair credit terms, among other policies, which it says are not in the best interest of its members.

Alphea Saunders

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UPDATE: Paulwell indicates end to Rubis, JGRA dispute

Trinidad to settle players 2006 FIFA World Cup pay dispute

Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar (File photo)

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, Tuesday July 8, 2014, CMC – Trinidad and Tobago’s government says it will settle the outstanding US$1.3 million owed to 13 members of the 2006 World Cup squad, bringing an end to the long-running dispute between the players and the national football federation.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said Monday that while government was under no obligation to settle the impasse, it was mindful of the “long and protracted legal battles waged by these football heroes of ours” and also aware of the fact the national federation was not in a position to pay.

“On the eve of the FIFA World Cup semi-finals 2014 I think it is appropriate that we honour these players and settle their long outstanding battle for the payments due them,” Persaud-Bissessar told a media conference.

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“Let us move beyond the grievances and rekindle the spirit of togetherness and patriotism engendered by such a historic moment.

She continued: “As we gather to witness the excitement of the World Cup semi-finals and finals starting tomorrow (Tuesday) we can celebrate our own time knowing there are only pleasant memories and acknowledged heroes.”

The members of the squad argued they were never paid all the monies owed them coming out of the historic 2006 campaign in Germany, and sued the national federation. They gained a judgment in their favour for US$3 million but were only paid US$1.7 million of the amount.

Persad-Bissessar, who is flying to Brazil to witness the World Cup semi-finals, reminded the country the Soca Warriors had been a huge source of pride for all Trinidadians.

“They healed every national wound, bridged every divide, and brought us together across all boundaries, there were no political, social, religious or ethnic differences, we acclaimed ourselvesand embraced each other in a celebration of genuine patriotic pride,” she pointed out.

“The sense of belonging and togetherness engendered must remain as a constant reminder to us of what is possible when we acknowledge ourselves and remember that at the end of the day we all share this special place called Trinidad and Tobago.”

Former national player Brent Sancho, a member of that aggrieved World Cup squad, said he was “overwhelmed” by government’s decision to settle the outstanding amount.

Speaking on behalf of the players – seven of whom were present on Monday – Sancho described the outcome as a victory in the battle his teammates had waged over the last eight years.

“On behalf of those of us who have been fighting a long, tough legal battle to get our just due payment for our efforts at the FIFA World Cup, Germany 2006, this moment means more than any of us can describe,” Sancho said.

“While so many have turned their backs on us and ignored our pleas, we have finally been heard as is acknowledged here today.”

View the original article here

Trinidad to settle players 2006 FIFA World Cup pay dispute

Landlord, tenant in television dispute

A $15,000 settlement was the outcome in a matter against a landlord who has been accused of damaging several television sets belonging to his former tenant.

Ruel Rainford, who has been charged with malicious destruction property, told the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court, on Thursday, that he has paid for the damage.

No evidence was offered in the matter and Rainford was told by the court that the matter was dismissed.

It is alleged that Rainford threw seven TV sets belonging to the complainant down a staircase during a dispute.

Rainford said that he didn’t know that the TV sets were in good working condition.

“Your Honour, I spoke to him on several occasions and told him that I was gonna throw the TV sets away and he said go ahead. I gave him $15000 as settlement, but I didn’t know that the items were good,” the accused said.

” I got notice in May and he said I should remove the TV sets and I didn’t move them. Your Honour, he threw them down the stairs,” the complainant told the court.

The complainant wanted more money for the damage to his electronics, however the RM said that the TV sets were not brand new.

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Landlord, tenant in television dispute

Man sentenced for chopping teen in football dispute

A man who allegedly chopped and wounded a teen allegedly after a dispute during a football game was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment yesterday in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court.

Charged with wounding is 20-year-old Raesean Thompson.

He pleaded guilty and offered the court an explanation for his actions.

The court heard that the incident occurred on a ball field in the Sandy Park community on May 6 at about 7 p.m.

Thompson told the court, “Your honour, we were playing football. we had an argument over some tackling. it got physical, and I saw a machete on the ball field and I took it up and chopped him.”

The teenage complainant rubbished the explanation given by Thompson.

He said, “We had an altercation, and while walking home, he attacked me with the machete. people saw what was happening and parted us. I walked away and him make after me again. him run mi down and chop mi ina mi back.”

A fingerprint order was made against Thompson.

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Man sentenced for chopping teen in football dispute

Woman stabs lover during dispute over money

with Tanesha Mundle

Sunday, February 02, 2014    

A woman who stabbed her common-law husband in his chest during a domestic dispute at their home is to know her fate on February 25.

The date for sentencing was set in the St Andrew Resident Magistrate’s Court last Friday, after Lola Hall pleaded guilty to unlawful wounding.

However, before the date was scheduled, Pusey raised concerns as to why Hall was on bail and told her that she should be in custody.

“If it was a man, he would be in custody. I don’t know why you are on bail,” she said.

Pusey also raised concern about Hall’s mental status, after Hall told her that she did not know how many times she stabbed the man in his chest when she was questioned about the incident.

But in the end, the magistrate extended Hall’s bail for her to return to court for sentencing.

The court heard that on the day in question, the complainant and the accused were at home when Hall accused him of taking her money, which resulted in an argument.

Following the argument, the court heard further, the complainant was moving his furniture out of the house when Hall stabbed him in his chest with a knife.

The complainant was taken to hospital and Hall was subsequently arrested and charged.

Accused in trouble after breaking babymother’s ribs

A man whose babymother told the court that he flung a stone at her and broke three of her ribs was taken into custody for sentencing when he showed up in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court last Friday.

Lucien Anderson’s bail was revoked by Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey after he reluctantly admitted that he had hit the complainant with a stone.

According to the complainant, she was on her way home from a nine-night when the accused attacked her with the stone.

“I was coming from nine-night when I only see a stone pass me and me cuss a badword and say mind unuh lick me, and by the time me cud a say that, him fling a big stone in me side and bruk me three ribs dem,” she said.

Anderson, however, denied her report. “Your Honour, I have an out-of-port baby and from me go for baby a bare problem she a give me” he said.

“A so it go when you carry in another baby,” Pusey told him.

“I am not guilty. A she spit in my face, me have evidence,” Anderson said.

The magistrate then told him that he can either plead guilty in this court where the maximum sentence is three years, or face trial in the Circuit Court where the penalty is higher.

“Me not guilty,” Anderson insisted. “Me give har everything as a baby mother and she mek me lose me job. Look how much time she pick trouble with me,” he said.

Pusey then told him that he should make up his mind about his plea.

“Me lick har, me lick har,” Anderson then admitted, before he was remanded into custody.

“You stay with me until February 5 and think about you dirty deed,” she said.

Man claims ex won’t leave him alone

A man who beat his ex-girlfriend, whom he claimed has been making his life a living hell and has refused to leave him alone, was fined $10,000 when he appeared in court on Friday.

Robert Myers, whom the court heard grabbed the complainant and knocked her, was fined after he pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm. If the fine is not paid, Myers will spend six months in prison.

He, however, told the court that he attacked her after she slapped him in his face.

“Your Honour, I saw her talking to a young guy but I pretended as if I didn’t see her and when I reach home she text me saying hi,” he said.

“Just tell me why you hit her,” Pusey said.

Myers then told the court that the complainant told him that she was going to make his life a living hell and that she would never stop texting him, even though he told her to avoid him.

“Didn’t you say that to me?” Myers then said to the complainant amidst laughter from the court.

But Pusey told him to address the court and explain why he had hit her and he said he went to confront her about texting the man, and threats about carrying news to his current girlfriend when she slapped him in his face. He said he then held her hand and retaliated.

“She will stop texting you eventually, and you don’t have to respond to her texts or let it infuriate you, but you have no business grabbing her up,” the magistrate uttered.

“And why you talking about seeing her with another guy if you have a girlfriend. You expect her to be celibate? Just move on with your life,” Pusey said before handing down the sentence.

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Woman stabs lover during dispute over money

Man assaults woman in dispute over oral sex payment

with Tanesha Mundle

Sunday, January 26, 2014    

MUFFLED laughter and snide remarks greeted an accused man who was brought before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court last week for reportedly assaulting his cousin’s girlfriend, in the aftermath of a dispute with her friend over payment for oral sex at a dance.

The accused, Lee Val Williams, 43, a farmer and construction worker of Lawrence Tavern in West Rural St Andrew, was arrested and charged with unlawful wounding after he allegedly used a Guinness bottle to inflict a wound to the complainant’s face while they were partying at a bar in the Lawrence Tavern Square on November 30 last year.

According to the complainant, Williams, who had paid her friend to perform oral sex on him, demanded a return of his money after the act and got upset and attacked her.

The complainant told the court that they were at a dance when she and her friend were getting ready to leave, but she noticed that her friend had disappeared and went in search of her. She said that she later found her friend in the bathroom at the bar.

“I saw Williams holding her up by the neck and she holding onto her bag,” the complainant said.

The complainant said that when she enquired what was going on, her friend told her that Williams, after paying her for oral sex, had demanded his money back.

According to the woman in her statement, she asked her friend if Williams had climaxed and her friend told her ‘yes’.

However, she told the court that Williams, after seeing her, started to get boisterous while demanding his money and she alerted her boyfriend who came to pacify the situation, but Williams would not relent and threatened to fight his cousin.

“My boyfriend said to him, ‘my youth me an you a blood, me nah war you’,” but was told by Williams that he is a ‘badman’ and would kill him.

The complainant said that Williams then shoved her boyfriend, who pushed him in return and they then ‘started to fist it out’.

She said that during the fight, Williams reached for a Guinness bottle and moved towards her boyfriend but before she could move, he hit her in her face.

As the woman relayed the story there was stifled laughter in the court as persons looked on at Williams with disgust and unflattering comments.

But Williams stood expressionless, neither denying nor confirming the complainant’s report.

However, when he was asked by Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey if he had hit the complainant, he simply replied, “No, maam.”

His bail was extended for him to return to court on March 13.

Young girl and friend freed after breaking into ex-lover’s home

Two young girls who also faced the court for kicking off a man’s door and breaking into his house were freed after the court heard that one of them was his ex-girlfriend.

Monique Livermore, 20, and Yakeisha Smith, 17, both of Jameson Street in downtown Kingston, broke into the 44-year-old vendor’s house on Smith Lane in downtown Kingston on January 9 and stole his standing fan and three colognes, all valued at $8,030.

Both women were subsequently charged with housebreaking and larceny.

But last Thursday when the matter was mentioned, it was revealed that Smith and the complainant had a relationship.

“We and him a friend and more time we sleep ova him yard,” Livermore said when asked by the magistrate why they had broken into the complainant’s home.

“Why you sleep over his house,” probed the magistrate.

“When we go a party and come in late we sleep over his house,” she answered.

She then told the court that Smith and the complainant were involved and that he owed her something which he promised her and so they broke into his house.

The complainant, who admitted that he had a two-month long relationship with Smith from last November, denied having anything for Smith.

“Me did promise her a money but me give har from Christmas to buy clothes and things,” he said, noting that he did not give her any permission to take anything from his house.

However, Pusey, after checking on Smith’s age to ensure that she had reached the age of consent at the time of the relationship, told both women to go home and made a no-order ruling in the matter.

“Sleep a unu yard,” Pusey warned them as they left the court.

Woman requests help to fix damaged ear

A bar owner who lost a piece of her ear during a fight with her employee told the court that all she wanted is for her damaged ear to be repaired.

Tamara Thomas, who was missing the lower part of her ear, told the court that Lasonya Sergeant, whose employment she had earlier terminated, attacked her at her bar after she told her to stay away from her.

“I heard she had been bad-mouthing me and talking a lot of things behind me and on the day I saw her at my bar and said, “yu nuh hear fi avoid me, and she just grab on pon me ears and when people a draw har off, piece a it come off,” Thomas said.

Sergeant was subsequently arrested and charged with unlawful wounding. But Thomas was also charged with malicious destruction

of property, following allegations that she broke Sergeant’s silver chain during the fight.

However, this was denied by Thomas who claimed that she did not get a chance to retaliate as people had intervened the moment she

was attacked.

According to Thomas, her flat screen television was destroyed during the fight, after Sergeant’s hand accidentally knocked it off the table. But she said she was not interested in the television or having Sergeant punished.

“All I want is for my ear to be fixed,” she said.

However, Pusey told them that they will have to wait on the medical report and extended both their bails for them to return to court on March 18.

Judge scolds driver for bribing cop with $1000

Laughter erupted in the court after the magistrate chastised a driver for bribing a policeman with $1,000.

“You look on the good, good officer and give him $1,000? You don’t even offer him something better than that?” Pusey said to 26-year-old accused Yraerc Creary.

Creary attempted to bribe a policeman on January 9 after he was stopped along Washington Boulevard, St Andrew, for speeding and was charged with attempting to bribe a policeman.

Last Thursday when he appeared in court he pleaded guilty, while noting that he was sorry for his action and that he had apologised to the policeman.

But the magistrate told him that he would have to face the consequence of his actions as he was one of those individuals who was contributing to corruption.

“I have always maintained that in order for there to be an act of corruption, there has to be a corruptee and a corruptor,” she said. “You know you can go to prison for three years.”

“Oh God, no ma’am”, Creary shouted out right away.

“I sorry for you,” Pusey said, as the seriousness of Creary’s action dawned on him.

He then pleaded with the magistrate for mercy, claiming that his action was a mistake. However, Pusey told him that she needed time to think about his sentence and revoked his bail.

He was then remanded into custody and is scheduled to return to court next Thursday.

Businessman accused of stealing customer’s gold chain

A businessman was also taken before the court, following allegations that he stole a customer’s gold chain valued at $300,000, after collecting it to fix it.

It was revealed that the accused, Sunil Daswani, after completing the repair, gave the complainant a different chain in return for his expensive jewellery.

But Daswani, who was arrested and charged with larceny by trick, denied the charge last Thursday when he appeared in court.

But the complainant insisted that he was robbed of his gold chain, which he said he had for about 20 years.

“No, the man exchange me gold chain and give me a small one,” said the complainant who was obviously irritated.

Daswani’s bail was then extended for him to return to trial on February 13.

According to allegations, on December 21 last year, the complainant, who is also a businessman, went to the jewellery store on King Street, in downtown Kingston to replace a safety lock on his gold chain.

It was reported that the complainant enquired about the cost and was told that the gold safety lock would cost him $4,000 while the gold-plated one would cost him $1,200. As a result the complainant reportedly chose the cheaper option and handed over his chain to Daswani.

Shortly after, the complainant’s chain was returned but the complainant upon inspecting the item of jewellery noticed that it was not the same chain and brought it to Daswani’s attention but he insisted that it was the same chain.

The matter was then reported, and Daswani was charged.

When cautioned about the allegations, the court was told that he responded: “I am a businessman, I have no reason to steal his chain.”

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Man assaults woman in dispute over oral sex payment