EARL Price of Lot 500 North East La Penitence, Georgetown appeared on Thursday, June 28, before Georgetown Magistrate Fabayo Azore to answer a charge of possessing 10 grammes of marijuana on Wednesday, June 26, at North East La Penitence.

The 47-year-old clothes vendor, pleaded not guilty to the charge, and Police Sergeant Ramsahoye Rambajue, prosecuting, informed the court that, on the day in question, ranks from the Police Narcotics Branch at Eve Leary conducted a search at the defendant’s home and unearthed the illegal substance in a transparent Ziplock bag on the floor, and also in a pair of socks in the bedroom.
Attorney-at-law Mr. Melville Duke, representing the defendant, informed the court that, on that day, the police had entered his client’s home by climbing through the window without any warrant.
Prosecutor Rambajue objected to bail being granted the defendant on the grounds of the nature of the offence and the penalty attached; but Magistrate Azore, considering that it was the defendant’s first offence, that he had an unblemished record, and that he was the father of three children; and also because he had changed his plea to guilty when the charge was re-read to him, fined Price $5,000, and ordered him to perform six months of community service at East La Penitence Police Station.