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Nov 18, 2014 News
The recent decision of a Magistrate to grant a confessed drug trafficker a suspended sentence has raised many eyebrows.
Numerous questions are being asked about the possible justifications for such a verdict.
The decision taken by Sparendaam Magistrate Alex Moore on Tuesday last is being described by Head of the Guyana Bar Association, Ronald Burch-Smith as “highly unusual.”
Speaking to Kaieteur News yesterday, Burch-Smith emphasised that Magistrates, often referred to as ‘creatures of statute’, are bound by the law and cannot act outside of it.
The sentence, which has largely been condemned, was handed down to Leonard Bacchus who admitted to trafficking 67 kilograms of cocaine. Three years ago, Bacchus was arrested after a police raid netted the $300M worth of narcotics, which was concealed in the false bottoms of kunds (receptacles used in Hindu religious functions). The drug was found in Bacchus’ Enmore, East Coast Demerara home.
Bacchus was consequently given a five-year suspended sentence and ordered by the court to pay a fine of $2.5M; Magistrate Moore also gave Bacchus up to June 30, 2015 to pay.
Burch-Smith contended that under the Narcotics Act, if found guilty or pleading guilty, the penalty for the offender is a fine not less than $30,000 or three times the market price of the narcotics, together with a jail term of no less than three years and no more than five years.
The Bar Association Head said “According to the Act, jail is mandatory.” The attorney commented that having examined the sentencing of courts across board, this is almost consistently applied.
“The law refers to three years in jail being the minimum mandatory. All Magistrates are bound by law as are all courts,” he said. There is no room for a suspended sentence on a drug trafficking charge.
Burch-Smith admitted that there was difficulty in trying to discern exactly what Magistrate Alex Moore did or didn’t do.
“It is highly unusual. I don’t know what he heard or what the situation is exactly, but the normal course of things, this (the suspended sentence) would not happen.”
“The section specifies and would have at least made way for some jail time and the fine is mandatory – here the sentence is highly unusual…Mr. Moore seems to be breaking new ground here,” the Attorney-at-Law commented.
Burch-Smith agrees with the decision of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to appeal the case. “It is certainly worthy of further examination.”
The drug was found in Bacchus’ Enmore, East Coast Demerara home. Bacchus was charged, too, with being in possession of 125 12-gauge shotgun cartridges and 115 .32 rounds of ammunition, without a licence.
Magistrate Moore granted him a two-year suspended sentence for the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition charges.
Furthermore, the lawyer questioned why is it that large cases of drugs and ammunition are being prosecuted in Magistrate’s Courts where the maximum imposable sentence is five years. He opined that such offenders should be charged and dealt with before a Judge who is allowed to impose lengthier sentences.
According to reports, the case of the cocaine in kunds attracted much public interest when it first came to light in 2011. The Bacchus family members were remanded to prison when they made their first court appearance on August 23. They were, however, able to secure high court bail to the tune of $1M each on November 23, the same year.
Prosecutor, Inspector Stephen Telford who is attached to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Chambers prosecuted the case. In his address to the court, he asked for consideration to be given to the quantity of the illicit substance involved.
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