Charges against college student dismissed

A 17-year-old student at the Division of Technical and Vocational Education of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) gave a heavy sigh of relief on Monday, when a case in which he was charged with using indecent language at the Girls’ High School bus stop was dismissed.{{more}}

The teenager was charged that on October 21, at Richmond Hill and in a public place, he used indecent language to wit “boy weh di mudda ****”, and on that same date he had 14 grams of cannabis in his possession.

The young man, however, only pleaded guilty to the charge of indecent language and the crown decided not to proceed with the drug charge.

Police say that around 4:45 p.m. last Friday, Rapid Response Unit (RRU) officers headed by PC778 Williams went to the Mahogany Bar area at Richmond Hill in response to a fight that had taken place there.

According to a police report, the teen was speaking to another person when he said, “boy weh di mudda ****” and started to laugh.

As a result the offence was pointed out to him and he was formally charged.

According to his lawyer Grant Connell, the 17-year-old used the words to express what he saw and was not aware that he was within earshot of the police.

Connell said the act was out of character for the young man and asked that the court invoke a bond, adding that his client is extremely remorseful and further guaranteed that he would not frequent the court.

Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias commented that there should be a stronger police presence at the Girls’ High School bus stop, noting that she does not like the area.

She scolded the teen, also noting that she is not fond of the language.

“This is not the type of language you should try to engage in on a regular basis,” said the Chief Magistrate.

Browne-Matthias explained that such behaviour could affect the young man negatively in terms of a future job application.

She, however, showed leniency and dismissed the matter against the teen, stating that she does not wish to tarnish his record for such an offence.

“I am going to treat you as if you never appeared here,” Browne-Matthias said.

During the hearing of the case, both Connell and Browne-Matthias made similar points about the distasteful behaviour that goes on at the bus stop, although the bar located there has discontinued the sale of alcohol.(AS)