St Michael men fined $7,000 each for breaching curfew law

It has cost two men $7,000 each for their “reckless” disregard of the nation’s curfew law, which requires all persons to remain indoors.

The sum is the highest imposed on any person pleading guilty to breaching the Covid-19 directive law put in place by the Government to help stem the spread of the highly contagious and deadly coronavirus.

Now, the two men, 43-year-old seaman, Rene Decoursey Jordan and 33-year-old Damien Decourey Walter, both of London Bourne Towers, Bay Street, St Michael have 20 weeks in which to pay the fines if they want to avoid spending six months in prison.

Prosecutor, Sergeant Theodore McClean, said on April 26 lawmen received a report that men wearing masks, one armed with a firearm were walking along Wharf Road, St Michael. They responded and on reaching the area they observed one man throwing something into the Careenage. Divers were called in to search the area but McClean said due to the conditions at the time and poor visibility nothing was recovered. The men were questioned on their reasons for being outdoors at 9:45 p.m. on Sunday.

Rene Decoursey Jordan and Damien Decourey Walter

Jordan, according to the prosecutor, told police, “I just went to the ATM to give back my friend money I had borrowed,” while Walter said, “I just went outside to assist him to the ATM.” The two were arrested and charged.

Today, before Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes the men’s attorneys-at-law, Talal Noumeh and Faye Finisterre, made submissions for their clients to be shown leniency.

Noumeh said contrary to what the prosecutor had read in the facts his instructions were that Walter’s was having an “asthmatic fit . . . and so he went for a walk. He went for a walk with the other fella to calm himself down.”

The attorney told the court that he was not denying the seriousness of the charge but asked that the distance between his client’s residence and where he was found be taken into consideration. “It not like he was from St George. He is not known and has been in police custody since Sunday. I ask the court to look upon him mercifully.”

However, the magistrate said while he was aware that lawyers took instructions, Walter’s condition was one that put him in the “at risk” group.

Finisterre, meantime said, she was “surprised” by the facts, given that the charge against her client, Jordan, “speaks nothing” of such an offence.

She explained that Jordan had a reasonable excuse as he was a port worker and was expecting to be called in to work the following day. As such she said he went to the ATM to get money for his elderly mother with whom he lives, as the following day was their day to do business and shopping. “He wanted to ensure that his elderly mother had the funds.”    

The defence attorney also pointed to the facts outlined which suggested that the men were wearing masks at the time. “Everybody wears a mask, it is a socially responsible. We can’t vilify certain people for wearing masks,” she argued as she urged the court not to impose a custodial sentence on her client.

But the chief magistrate questioned the time the men went to the ATM.

“What I am hearing is absurd, at a quarter to 10 going to the ATM is madness. They are reckless. The two of them are reckless,” Weekes stressed.

He added: “He (Walter) is an asthmatic and walked from London Bourne Towers to the Careenage . . . reckless.

“They are not going to jail today but they are reckless…A fine of $7,000 each.

“This is to send a message to all of those liming in the district. No more moonlighting!”