$300 fine for obstructing policeman

An unemployed woman has to pay the court $300 in four weeks or face two months in prison for obstructing a police officer who was carrying out his job.

When she appeared before Magistrate Alison Burke in the District A Traffic Court, Nicole Odessa Blackman, 49, of Block 5H Neptune Road, Deacons Road, St Michael, pleaded guilty to obstructing Police Constable Allan Riley in the execution of his duty on December 3, 2023.

The prosecutor informed the court that on that day, police were on duty in the Deacons Road neighbourhood conducting investigations into a matter, and as they were questioning a suspect, Blackman intervened and demanded they release the man.

After she refused to comply with the officers’ order to remove herself from the scene, she was arrested and charged.

Blackman said, however, that she asked one question to the police and she was pushed and arrested.

Pointing out that Blackman had four previous convictions, three of which were similar, Magistrate Burke advised her not to place herself in a situation like that again.