I didn’t run from police; I walked out – Rose Hall man

The theme of most of the men who appeared at the Serious Offences Court on Wednesday was: “I was intoxicated”.Vaughnley Hills was one of those men.{{more}}

Hills, 34, a Rose Hall resident, was sentenced to six months imprisonment, after he pleaded guilty to escaping police custody on July 8, while he was being held at the Central Police Station.

The farmer also pleaded guilty to having an offensive weapon in his possession and was sentenced to another two months in jail.

The sentences will run concurrently.

The court heard that at about 8:45 a.m. on July 8, PC 204 Dopwell was on duty at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) when a man came to make a report against Hills.

Hills walked in behind the man and when Dopwell approached him to inform him about the report that had been made against him, a broken Hairoun bottle was found in the back pocket of his pants.

That same day, at about 10 a.m., while Hills was being taken downstairs to the holding cell at the station office, he escaped from two police officers and ran to the Solidarity Inc car park, just opposite the police station, where he was caught.

Explaining what had transpired, Hills told magistrate Ricky Burnett that he was intoxicated when the events unfolded.

He said he was drinking when one of his friends told him police officers were coming.

“I push the Hairoun bottle in my back pocket and I stand up close to a wall and the bottle break…”

Hills said he threw away the pieces of broken bottle, but somehow, the top part of the bottle remained in his pocket.

“I been so intoxicated, I don’t know how that happened,” Hills said as persons seated in the courtroom laughed.

He explained that he did not run from the police, but rather walked out of the station and came back to ask the police what time he had to come to court.(KW)