His ticket for his trip to the Big Apple this Saturday has been purchased but a 25-year-old who believed he could make fast money selling cocaine will not see those bright city lights anytime soon.
Shaquille Alexander Thornhill, of No. 37 Hillview Apartments, Durant’s Gardens, Christ Church appeared before Magistrate Douglas Frederick today and pleaded guilty to possession, possession with intent to supply and possession with intent to traffic 5.6 grammes of cocaine on April 10, 2019.
Police were in the area of St Lawrence Gap when they spotted Thornhill around 2:10 a.m. He was stopped and he consented to a search. A Ziploc bag containing a white powdered substance suspected to be cocaine was found in a bag he was carrying. A vial with the same substance was also found in his possession, Sergeant St Clair Phillips revealed.
“I get lay off from . . . [and] I had it to sell,” Thornhill allegedly told police when he was arrested with the illicit drugs which had a $275 street value.
Attorney-at-law Harry Husbands in mitigating on his behalf revealed his client was unemployed and was scheduled to leave the country for New York for work that had been lined up for him as a disc jockey.
“He made a silly mistake of having this item for sale . . . he has not wasted the court’s time and is not known,” Husbands told the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court as he sought to get a sentence for his client that would not appear on his record and allow him to keep his travel plans.
But Frederick made it clear that the travel plans would need to be cancelled.
“He was selling cocaine only today and wants to travel to a bigger society. We have to put him through a drug rehabilitation programme. He has to delay that trip because he was selling cocaine just a few hours ago. He is not ready to go anywhere,” the magistrate stated.
The lawyer however argued that keeping Thornhill here would only cause more hardship for him given the harsh economic times.
“If he stays here . . . he will still be unable to support his son and still be unemployed,” the attorney stated.
But Magistrate Frederick replied: “When you hear a Bajan man get hold for cocaine . . . it reflects on all of us”.
Thornhill also addressed the magistrate informing him that he had been a deejay at one of the island’s major hotel chains.
“Actually it is my first time . . . me and a tourist lady became involved . . . I got laid off a few weeks ago . . . I saw an opportunity because she said there is a good set of money involved,” the accused said.
He was informed however that was just the beginning.
“They are going to offer you money to bring it back too,” Frederick told him adding, “I need to wean you a little bit more before you can get to the bright city lights”.
The magistrate then ordered that Thornhill report to the Probation Department for counseling regarding drug rehabilitation.
The matter has been adjourned until April 26, 2019 and he is on $2,000 bail in the meantime.
