150 hours community service for cursing police

A 21-YEAR-OLD man yesterday confessed to a magistrate that he was in a celebratory mood on Saturday when he drank half a bottle of White Oak rum.

Senior magistrate Cherril-Ann Antoine told Shivanand Ramjitsingh that his brain hadn't yet fully formed and he was too young to expose his liver to damage.

Police charged him with obscene language and resisting arrest on Saturday. Yesterday, he pleaded guilty.

Court police prosecutor Cleyon Seedan, said that at about 9 pm at Southern Main Road, Marabella, police on mobile patrol saw a vehicle parked at the side of the road, from which loud music was coming. When they confronted him, Ramjitsingh shouted, "I is a f---ing outlaw. Gary Griffith go hear about this."

When Seedan related what Ramjitsingh had said, Ramjitsingh smiled while sitting in the dock.

"Why are you smiling?" Antoine asked.

Seedan said when the police tried to arrest Ramjitsingh, he pulled away violently.

Asked why he behaved in that way, Ramjitsingh told Antoine, "I was under the influence. I was drinking. I drink a half of White Oak."

Antoine asked, "You have a drinking habit already?"

She ordered Ramjitsingh, with his consent, to do 150 hours of community service. A probation officer is to decide the nature of the work.