Coconut reaper remanded

A 56-year-old man who broke the island’s national COVID curfew when he went to pick coconuts on another man’s field is currently on remand at Dodds awaiting his fate.

David Henderson Haynes, of no fixed place of abode, was remanded to the St Philip facility after he pleaded guilty to stealing 27 coconuts worth $40.50 on February 7 belonging to St Clair Scott.

His remand also came after he admitted to contravening Paragraph (1) sub-paragraph (2) of the Emergency Management (COVID-19) (CURFEW) (NO.3) Directive which requires every person to observe physical distancing and associated protocols in the interest of public health. He left home between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. on February 7 when he was not a member of an essential service or had an emergency.

Prosecutor Victoria Taitt in relaying the facts before Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes disclosed that Scott is a farmer with two and a half acres of land at Salters, St George. Last Saturday Scott received a telephone call informing him that someone was in his field reaping coconuts. He left home and confronted Haynes on the land and held him until police arrived.  While in custody the convicted man admitted to lawmen that he took the produce without permission.

Before the Chief Magistrate, he tried to explain his actions.

He said, “In 2013/2014 I use to help a Ms Clarke cleaning the land but I did not know that the land had changed hands.”

However, Weekes told him that too many people were engaging in the habit of reaping produce that they did not sow.

The convicted man will return before the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on March 25 for sentencing.