DUCEY Skeete, 27, was, yesterday, sentenced to three years imprisonment and fined $30,000 on conviction of drug trafficking.

Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry imposed the penalty on the prisoner (no address given) for having, on Thursday, September 5, been in possession of 470 grammes of cannabis sativa (marijuana) for the purpose.
Police Corporal Bharat Mangru, prosecuting, told the court that ranks on patrol duty stopped motor car HC 1228 to conduct a search and observed the defendant acting in a suspicious manner.
His person and personal belongings were searched and yielded a black plastic bag containing weeds, seeds and stems of the prohibited plant, for which Skeete accepted ownership.
The convict requested leniency, claiming that the reason for him committing the crime is because he had failed to secure employment and has to put food on the table for his two children.
He said, now that school has reopened, he had to do something for them.
The Chief Magistrate, before pronouncing sentence, told Defence Counsel Dexter Todd that she took some mitigating factors into consideration, including Skeete’s age, his two dependent children, his plea at first opportunity saving the Court time and the fact that he has no prior conviction.