Judge not pleased with pace of case reaching court

Madam Justice Pamela Beckles expressed her displeasure with the pace of some processes within the justice system on Wednesday, as she read a charge to a man accused of a 2014 burglary.

“I committed this matter since the 14th of May 2014 when I was a Magistrate at Oistins. The [now late] DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] Charles Leacock indicted this matter on the 28th of May 2015. Tell me how on God’s green earth we only get here now in 2023 for an arraignment!” she declared in Supreme Court No. 5 when dealing with the case of Shane Alexander Riley of 2nd Avenue, Alleyne’s Land Bush Hall, St Michael.

“So it stayed somewhere until we get here for an arraignment all of these years later, and then they wonder why we have all of these constitutional motions all over the place.”

Riley is charged with entering the dwelling house of Natasha Hope as a trespasser on January 24, 2014, and stealing two laptop computers valued at $4 600, one video camera valued at $1 000, one chain set valued at $700, one watch valued $900, a Kindle valued at $400, one anklet valued $300, two rings valued $1 010, one pair of earrings valued $115 and one piggy bank valued at $30.

He pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Madam Justice Beckles informed Riley that the matter had to be transferred to another court as she had previously dealt with it as a magistrate. ]]>