A MOTHER of six was Monday remanded to prison after being found with 925 grammes of cannabis sativa (marijuana) in a box.The accused Merlyn Sharples, from La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara, was brought before City Magistrate Judy Latchman to answer to the charge of drug possession.
The report alleged that the defendant was found transporting the ganja on January 22 at Itabali, Mazaruni River for the purpose of trafficking.
Sharples, a 39-year old interior shop-keeper denied the charge. Her lawyer, Latchmie Rahamat, explained to the court that on the day in question, Sharples was a passenger on a truck heading into the interior.
Sharples was said to have been sitting in the cabin of the truck while other persons were sitting in the tray of the vehicle.
According to the lawyer, the said truck was stopped along the Itabali trail by police officers during a routine search and no drug was found in the woman’s possession, unlike what the Police claimed. It was on this basis that she pleaded for bail for Sharples.
Police Prosecutor Shawn Gonzales debunked the lawyer’s statements. He noted that during the police search, all passengers of the truck were instructed to claim their entire luggage from the vehicle. The defendant removed three boxes, one which the ganja was said to have been found.
The prosecutor said that Sharples, when arrested, admitted that the ganja was hers. Gonzales protested the woman’s bail application on the grounds of the seriousness and prevalence of such offences.
Magistrate Latchman refused the defendant bail and transferred her case to Court One where Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan presides. She was ordered to return to court on February 4.