A THIRTEEN-YEAR-OLD persistent wanderer was sentenced to spend five years at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) on Monday.

Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo sent the teen to the correctional institution after hearing a report by Probation Officer, Maisie Sheppard, at New Amsterdam Court.

The teenager, being under the age of 17, had been convicted of wandering at Adephi, East Canje, also in Berbice.

The girl would leave her parents’ home to attend Canje Secondary School and return days after, the report said.

Sheppard said, following the child’s wayward tendency, her paternal aunt, Leslyn Southwell, had taken charge of her.

However, the second form student left the woman’s house last January 4 and returned more than two weeks later.

The School Headmistress reported that, of 30 teaching sessions the student should have attended, she was absent for 19, resulting in her obtaining only 31 per cent marks at her end-of-term examination.

Sheppard said the absence of her father from the home allowed the offender to roam the streets with deviant peers within the East Canje area.

Sheppard said the girl’s home is not conducive for serious academic work and her positive growth and development were definitely affected.

From all indications, her parents lack interest and control over her and her circumstances within their home may impacted negatively on her inability to improve her academic performance, Sheppard said.

She advised that the teen be placed in a controlled environment to undergo a process of rehabilitation, noting that the latter had previously appeared before the same magistrate, in another Berbice Court, last year, on a similar charge.
(Jeune Bailey Vankeric)