A  TWELVE-YEAR-OLD boy was spared from being sent to the New Opportunity Corps (NOC), on Monday, after he, tearfully, begged Magistrate Roby Benn to allow him to return home with his mother.

However, the magistrate imposed a two-year statutory supervision on him, during which monthly counselling sessions for him must be held by officers of the Probation and Welfare Service.
“Failure of the juvenile or his mother to attend the sessions will result in another court appearance,” Magistrate Benn stipulated.
The pre-teen had previously spent a week at the Juvenile Detention Centre in Georgetown, where he was detained after he had pleaded guilty to a charge of wandering at the New Amsterdam Court, in Berbice.
The police had reported that, last May 29, the Berbice Educational Institute student had wandered on Pope Street, New Amsterdam.

DELINQUENT CHARACTERS
Instead of going to school, the lad would frequent various games shops and would be seen with delinquent  characters.
Probation and Welfare Officer Maise Sheppard, in narrative, reported that the Form one student had been absent for 104 sessions and had attained only 39.9 percent marks at the Easter end-of-term examination.
However, she noted that while the truant has had several ‘run ins’ with fellow students, his single-parent mother has been very supportive, as she is involved in all parent/teacher activities.
Besides that, the offender’s father had migrated to the United States (U.S.) since 2005 and has, since, made limited contact with the offender.