Moments before Jamal Amal Skeete was to be sentenced by Madam Justice Pamela Beckles for three counts of sacrilege on Thursday, he left the custody of the psychiatric male nurse assigned to him, walked out of the Supreme Court Complex and did not return.
A warrant has therefore been issued for him.
Skeete, whose last known address was Well Gap, Cave Hill, St Michael, had been remanded into the custody of the Psychiatric Hospital during his last court appearance, with the request that he be tested for drugs and assessed there before sentencing.
Reporting to the judge in the No. 5 Supreme Court what had happened, the nurse said that while they were waiting for the court to start, Skeete got up and began walking towards the exit, telling him that he was going to get something to eat. The nurse said he pursued Skeete and told him to return as he was expected to attend court, but the man kept walking.
The nurse, questioned by the judge, said he saw no police around at the time to get assistance and admitted that he raised no real alarm as he was unaware that Skeete was a prisoner and thought he had just been sent by the court to the hospital for assessment.
Justice Beckles expressed concern about the situation, saying that Skeete had been remanded after recently admitting in open court that he smoked crack cocaine.
Noting that Skeete had previously been a client at Verdun House where he was doing “exceptionally well” before being expelled due to misbehaviour, the judge said that a programme had been since worked out for him.
“We were prepared to give him a chance. We were on the verge of placing him on a suspended sentence this morning. We were going to work with him…. I do not know how this happened,” she said, before issuing a warrant for his arrest instead.
Skeete had admitted to entering Mount Pisgah Spiritual Baptist Church, a divine place of worship, between February 1 and 2, 2018, with intent to commit theft.
He also pleaded guilty to entering Way of Truth Ministries between February 6 and 7, 2018 and stealing four cartons of juice, a sugar canister, a malt, and $744.14 cash, with a total value of $776.44. He entered that place of worship again between February 8 and 9, 2018 and stole two packs of scrubbers, a box of garbage bags, two tins of powder, four bottles of window cleaner, three bottles of toilet cleaner, six cans of air freshener, a gallon of disinfectant and a pack of cloth wipes, all valued at $72.75.
