Sandy Bay resident drinks hand sanitizer in court

A defendant who exhibited childlike behaviour in court last Friday, including drinking hand sanitizer, has been denied bail.

Shemmar Baptiste appeared before Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias on three charges. He is alleged to have committed the offences of theft of a cellphone worth $259, on September 16 and, on November 9, assaulting and resisting the arrest of Police Constable 659 Landon.

The Sandy Bay resident pleaded not guilty to the offences but had difficulty understanding other questions posed to him in court, at one point objecting to his own bail.

Baptiste, who appeared in court with bare feet, mumbled and responded to questions by covering his mouth and saying ‘Nyah’. This caused the Chief Magistrate to chastise him for “behaving like Tarzan” and to exclaim “you need some grooming, Father Jesus.”

Neither the Prosecutor or the Chief Magistrate supported the defendant’s excuse of being a farmer, Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche jumping to his feet and telling the defendant not to say that because, “farming is a lucrative profession” and that it feeds us all.

Delplesche objected to bail for Baptiste saying he had just been informed that Baptiste was on bail for a charge of robbery. When the defendant was asked if this was true, he denied it immediately. Following this, the court records were checked and it came to light that he was truly on bail for robbery. At this point Baptiste stated, smiling behind his hand, “Me now remember.”

Despite this dishonesty, Browne-Matthias still contemplated granting Baptiste bail in the amount of $3,000. It was at this moment that the defendant began to cough, and act as if he was going to spit in his shirt. Baptiste was given hand sanitizer by an officer of the court to prevent the spread of his infection, but instead chose for an unknown reason to drink the sanitizer.

At this point Browne-Matthias declared she was denying him bail. Therefore, the defendant will be jailed until his trial on November 20.(KR)