‘When you stand as surety, it is serious business’ – Chief Magistrate

Two women now better understand that acting as a surety for someone charged with a criminal offence is not something one should enter into lightly.

Last week, the women were each made to pay $12,000 in relation to separate illegal firearm possession charges.

On Thursday, September 7, Cheridan Peters, the stepmother of Jeraudi Cromwell, was ordered by Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias to pay, forthwith, EC$12,000 or spend six months at Her Majesty’s Prison (HMP). Cromwell is jointly charged with Old Montrose resident Junior Phillips for having a 9 millimetre pistol and nine rounds of ammunition on May 8, while riding in a car in the Lowmans area.

Last Thursday, only Phillips turned up to court, following which Cromwell’s surety was summoned. She told the court she does not know where her stepson is. She was ordered to pay.

Peters sat in the courtroom for a while, after which a police officer escorted her and a relative to a local money transfer company, where she collected the EC$12,000. She paid the money to the court and was released.

Also, last Friday, a strong plea by lawyer Grant Connell saw Angela Ballantyne escape a six-month stint at HMP, after the court allowed her to pay only EC$12,000 of the EC$50,000 bail amount she had agreed to pass over if Gershon Calvin Cole-Woods did not turn up to court.

Cole-Woods is charged that on May 5, 2017, at Kingstown, he had in his possession one .38 Taurus revolver, serial number 542285, and on that same day and place he had 15 rounds of .38 ammunition, both without a licence issued under the Firearms Act.

Cole-Woods was expected in court last week Monday, September 4, but made no appearance. A bench warrant was issued for the accused and a surety summons for Ballantyne, who had bailed him, using a vehicle valued at EC$55,000.

On Friday, Connell said he was humbly asking the court to give Ballantyne some time to pay the money, but the Chief Magistrate said that she was not granting any extensions.

“When you stand as surety, it is serious business,” said Browne-Matthias.

Connell told the court that Cole-Woods’s absence comes on the heels of detectives at the Calliaqua Police Station launching an investigation into the disappearance of the Belair resident. He said Cole-Woods’ relatives had filed a missing person’s report after they lost contact with him.

He said he thinks Ballantyne was being punished for a “physical impossibility.”

Last week Monday, police officers in the courtroom whispered among themselves that certain evidence is leading them to think that Cole-Woods may have been murdered, but none of this was revealed to the Chief Magistrate. To further complicate matters, senior prosecutor Adolphus Delpesche told the court that his information suggested that Cole-Woods may have fled. He did not say where this information came from.

Connell said given the climate in the country, the rumours that Cole-Woods was murdered may well prove to be true. The Chief Magistrate insisted the money be paid and refused the vehicle, valued at EC$55,000, which was used to bail the accused.

The matter ended up in the Chief Magistrate’s Chambers and Ballantyne was later released after she paid the EC$12,000.

Cole-Woods, 36, is alleged to have been caught in a vehicle in Kingstown on with the firearm, along with Colin “Cocoa” David. David also has an illegal firearm charge and returns to court on Tuesday, September 19.

David is charged that he had in his possession one Canik 9mm semi-automatic pistol, serial number T6472-16 Ap 19974 and on that same day and place he had 36 rounds of 9mm ammunition, both without a licence issued under the Firearms Act.