Alleged curfew breaker pleads not guilty

Another young man charged with breaking the curfew order among other charges was released on bail today.

Rackesh Kishmar Oneal Grant, of Lower Carters Gap, Christ Church is charged with using a cellular phone to send a message that constituted a threat and caused annoyance, inconvenience and distress to Ricardo Clarke on April 28.

The alleged threat read: “Tell you uncle right, that whenever I see he, I starting he and nah talk no more. I swear to God on my mother’s grave I gain f**k my knife in he for what he went round Janelle with. Tell he I say so and whoever wanna get in he brother, you father, anybody could get in, I swear pun my life.”

Grant is also charged with being outdoors along the Tom Adams Highway around 12:45 p.m., also on April 28, without a reasonable explanation when there was a national directive in place that everybody remain indoors.

It is further alleged that he drove a motorcar on the same highway when he was not the holder of a driver’s licence and neither was the vehicle insured.

The 22-year-old pleaded not guilty to all the charges which resulted in Sergeant Theodore McClean objecting to his bail.

The prosecutor informed Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes that the Grant was currently on bail from the No. 2 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court. Judging from the nature of the threat issued he said, from the “tone and the words written” there was a need to protect the complainant as well as the accused from himself because there may be some form of retaliation against him for the “strong words”.

The prosecutor submitted that the breach of the COVID-19 curfew directive was also very serious.

“The need to protect society . . . when one decides to flout the law it shows there is no regard for himself or society . . . and to compound it by driving without licence and insurance. That is something that the court should frown upon,” McClean further submitted.

In her submissions Grant’s attorney-at-law Duana Peterson admitted that he was on bail for another matter but she said it had been pending in the system for the past four years. She said those charges were unrelated to the ones now before the court and her client had not found himself in trouble with the law since then. With regards to the threat, the defence lawyer said that the charge before the court was a “mere allegation” at this time.

“There are two sides to a story and we have only gotten a snapshot,” she said. She went on to tell the chief magistrate that Grant intended to file cross charges against the complainant.

On the allegation that he breached the islandwide curfew Peterson submitted that her client had a reasonable excuse for being on the road at the time as he was taking Janelle Clarke for medical attention and “was not without reasonable excuse”.

According to her, regarding the traffic charges, her client maintained his innocence saying at the time he was not driving the vehicle and was the front passenger. The vehicle she said was also not his, with regards to the no insurance charge.

The lawyer said that her client was also amiable to any bail conditions imposed by the court.

Chief Magistrate Weekes ruled in favour of the accused and granted him $6,000 bail. However, he has been banned from social media and placed on a 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily curfew.

For the curfew and traffic charges Grant will make his next appearance in the District ‘D’ Magistrates’ Court on June 12. He will appear in the District ‘B’ Oistins Magistrates’ Court on May 26 on the other charge.