Lawyer must bring surety or go to prison

A local magistrate has given an attorney-at-law accused of theft until Friday to return to court with his sureties to sign bail or be sent to prison.

The warning was issued to Hilary Jefferson Nelson on Monday morning by District A #2 Criminal Court Magistrate Manila Renee after the 74-year-old lawyer was granted bail on a charge of stealing £347 560.90, the equivalent of BDS$855 000, belonging to Errol Hewitt. Nelson, of #134 Bagatelle Terrace, St Thomas, is accused of committing the offence between November 13, 2018 and March 4, 2019.

He had appeared in court with one of two sureties but when Magistrate Renee discovered that the surety present was scheduled to travel overseas on Friday, she ruled her unsuitable. Renee insisted that a surety must be on the island to ensure the accused person attends court.

She reminded Nelson that he is a lawyer with perhaps double her years’ experience and he should know how the process works.

“This is nearly a million dollars; this is not something to sneeze at. This is a lot of money,” she told the elderly attorney, who pleaded not guilty to the offence.

“I am giving you time to get suitable sureties,” Magistrate Rene ruled. “You could even bring three if you want. I giving you until Friday. You could come back tomorrow, you could back Wednesday, but bring sureties to sign. When your matter is called up [on Friday] and there are no sureties, you will be sent to jail.”