Clarke sentenced to six months

Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes sees value in establishing a halfway house to help “vulnerable persons” who find themselves in trouble with the law.

He made the comment today as he dealt with the case of 33-year-old Justin Dave Clarke, who has no fixed place of abode.

Clarke pleaded guilty to breaching the Covid-19 curfew when he was outdoors on April 23 around 9:45 p.m. along Cheapside Road, St Michael without a reasonable explanation when persons had been given the directive to stay indoors.

Sergeant Theodore McClean said Clarke told police he was aware that a curfew had been imposed on the island but failed to give police an explanation about why he was on the streets.

Clarke also admitted that he entered Nature’s Food on the same day and stole a $100 bag of mushrooms belonging to Dora Song.  The prosecutor disclosed that the convicted man told police, who were on patrol, that he went to the establishment because he wanted “something to sell” in order to “buy something to smoke”.

The accused however could not enter the plea to the indictable charge of entering a place of divine worship namely the Bethel Methodist Church as a trespasser between April 15 and 23 with intent to commit theft.

In the District ‘D’ Magistrates’ Court today Clarke explained that he had been living at one of the shelters but left because it became too crowded. He also disclosed that he had a “big drug problem” and suffered from mental health challenges. “I was going for my injections and taking my medication but stopped,” he told the court.

After mulling over the situation the Chief Magistrate said his hands were tied and there was little he could do.  He then sentenced Clarke to six months in prison on the two charges to run concurrently.

“We are seeing a lot of vulnerable people like him who a halfway house can really help because the Psychiatric Hospital would have tried and certain parts of the system would have tired. Some young people some of them 19 and 20 and don’t necessarily have parents who can guide them maybe if we had some halfway houses…,” the Chief Magistrate said.

He admitted that his suggestion was not “new” and had previously been put on the table by Magistrate Douglas Frederick.

Weekes added: “But we have been seeing this for years . . . I don’t know how much more we can do but maybe the halfway house would work for someone to ensure he takes his medication, take away the drugs . . . reintegrate them into society . . . but mainly some of these who are very vulnerable we can look at but sometimes our hands at tied in terms of the options.”