Chef gets chance to keep record clean

Despite pleading guilty to three drug offences, Donnie Joshua Patrick Aymes will keep his criminal record clean if he manages to stay out of trouble for the next 18 months.

Magistrate Manila Renee placed the first-time offender on a bond to keep the peace when he appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The 24-year-old chef of Odessa McClean Drive, St Michael admitted to being in possession of cocaine as well as intending to supply, and trafficking the illegal drug on September 24, 2022.

Prosecutor Sergeant Kenmore Phillips told the court that police were conducting an operation in Bayville, St Michael, when they saw Aymes standing in the doorway of La’s Variety Shop with other men.

On seeing the police Aymes started to fidget which aroused the officers’ suspicion.

They approached him and he consented to a search but nothing was found on his person.

However, police searched the carpet where he was sitting and the contraband was discovered.

The illegal drugs weighed 2.7 grammes and had a street value of $135.

“A man give it to me and by the time I realise what was happening, two or three police jeeps pull up,” Aymes said.

Magistrate Renee warned him that having cocaine was a “serious matter”.

However, she told him that because he was not known to the court she would assist him in keeping his record clean.

The magistrate then placed him on a bond to keep the peace for the next 18 months.

It means that if Aymes stays out of trouble during that period, there will be no conviction recorded against him.

However, if he finds himself before the court, he will have to pay $1 000 in one month or spend one month in prison.