Man’s bid for Canada nearly lands him in jail

After being deported from Canada in January this year, Verron Bowman’s mounting frustration at not being able to go back to Canada saw him trying to obtain a passport in the name of Calvert Brian Pierre so that he could re-enter Canada to be with his family. His plan failed miserably.{{more}}

Bowman, 30, a farmer of Fountain pleaded guilty at the Serious Offences Court on Wednesday to presenting an application for a St Vincent and the Grenadines passport in the name of Calvert Brian Pierre, pretending to be him and intending for immigration officer PC 653 Kurt Noel to accept it as belonging to him. For his deceitful act Chief Magistrate Simone Churaman placed him on a nine-month custodial sentence and suspended it for two years.

The Court heard that on May 29, 2007 Bowman went to Pierre’s home and told him he wanted to go back to Canada. Pierre did not have a passport and Bowman asked him for his birth certificate. Bowman used the information on Pierre’s old birth certificate to obtain a new one with Pierre’s name from the registry.

Bowman then filled out the passport form using Pierre’s information. He then tendered the form to PC Noel who accepted the documents. He was told to come back on June 7 to collect his passport. When he returned, officers questioned him and Bowman admitted that the birth certificate was not his and his name was not Calvert Brian Pierre. He was taken to the Criminal Investigations Department where he was charged.

Bowman told Magistrate Churaman that he was deported for over staying his time in Canada and his legal papers hadn’t yet been processed. “My wife was calling me with all the problems she was facing with my daughter and all of this was getting to me.” Bowman said that Pierre was reluctant to fill out the information on the form and he (Bowman) told him he would do it. “I will do anything for my family, but I just acted and did not stop and think”.

Magistrate Churaman told the defendant it was a very serious offence and an act of deception. Churaman said she however took into account his guilty plea and the fact that he had no previous convictions. “You have a prison sentence hanging over your head, you must be careful what you do”.