Accused enters court room with bottle of rum
A senior magistrate is unhappy with the small number of police officers who are present at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court (KMC) to provide security.
Yesterday, September 12, 2024, Senior Magistrate, Tammika Mackenzie, again addressed the issue of poor security that is being provided by the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) at the KMC. She addressed the matter during a conversation with Defence Counsel, Grant Connel, when a theft accused entered the courtroom with a bottle of Sparrow rum in a bag, undetected.
“There’s nobody standing at the door. People are just walking in and out as they feel,” MacKenzie said, gesturing to the courtroom’s door which was unguarded at the time.
“It’s the same way how a knife…could’ve been in there,” she continued.
The senior magistrate added that police officers do not ask people who enter the courtroom if they are armed with any weapons or prohibited items. However, one officer who was at court indicated that he asks these questions whenever he monitors the door.
Connell, who drew the bottle of rum to the court’s attention, told the senior magistrate that the issue of poor security in the courtroom must be brought to the attention of Commissioner of Police, Enville Williams. Mackenzie said that she has personally taken steps to remove some chairs from the court and place them outside. She told the lawyer that at most, there are five police officers who provide security at the court.
“You should come here on afternoons where there are two police officers, sometimes one,” the Senior Magistrate Mackenzie told Connel.
When the concern was raised, there were two officers in the courtroom, and two providing security outside.
This is not the first occasion that this matter was being raised. Earlier this year, Senior Magistrate Mackenzie walked out of the courtroom when she saw that there were no police officers inside providing security. On September 12, 2024, at the Serious Offences Court, murder accused Rion Cole, and Michael Lyscott caused court proceedings to be halted when a police officer confronted them for snacking on a packet of peanuts in the courtroom.
When Senior Magistrate Colin John, who was presiding over the court questioned the officer how the men were able to enter the courtroom with the packet of peanuts, the officer told the senior magistrate that he escorted Cole to the bathroom, but Cole did not speak to anyone, so he is unaware how he could have gotten hold of the pack of peanuts.
Prosecutor, Renrick Cato, noted that both Cole and Lyscott went to the bathroom that day. John halted the proceedings and held a brief meeting with the officers who were in the court room. Both accused
men were seemingly entertained by the issue. Cole, who was laughing, said that the officer is the only person who spoke to him, so it could have been the officer who gave him the peanuts.
Lyscott told the police that he and Cole were unaware that they were not allowed to eat in the courtroom.
“We ain’t know. That’s why you hadda put it up in the court…people use phone in the court. Y’all disobey y’all own rules and want to lock up people.”
The officers directed the attention of the accused men to a rule listed under the Court Room Conduct that was stuck onto the courtroom’s wall in small print. The rule stated that, “No food, drink, chewing gum, candy or tobacco or reading materials are allowed in the courtroom.”
The senior magistrate did not speak on the matter when he retuned to the courtroom after he had met with the court officials.
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