Beetham activist jailed for cursing MP Hinds

BEETHAM Gardens community activist Anderson Wilson has been convicted and sentenced to seven days in jail for using obscene language to the annoyance of Laventille West MP Fitzgerald Hinds in 2018.

Shortly after he was sentenced, just before 2 pm on Friday, senior magistrate Sarah Da Silva agreed she was obligated under the Summary Court Act to grant him automatic bail.This was after his attorney Darren Mitchell gave notice of appealing the conviction and sentence.

Under section 133 A(1), once someone is sentenced to less than three months' imprisonment, a magistrate or judge must grant them bail.

In sentencing him, after she found him guilty, Da Silva said he had disrespected a government minister. Hinds is Minister in the Minstry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs.

While insisting that no special treatment was being given to Hinds, the magistrate said everyone deserves to be respected, regardless of who they are.

She said there was a prevalence of offences involving the use of obscene language, with police, ministers of government and even the prime minister being treated with “utter disrespect.” She also said both sides of the political divide, the Government and the Opposition, must be respected.

Wilson admitted to being a supporter of the United National Congress (UNC).

Agreeing with Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions George Busby that the court had to send a message that such behaviour would not be tolerated, Da Silva told Wilson that from those to whom much is given, much is expected. She said as a community activist who worked with young children in Beetham Gardens, he needed to set a better example, also telling him cursing a government minister was not an act that should be promoted.

“You should do better. Young boys, especially, need a better mentor. Be the change in your community,” she told him.

In his plea for leniency, Mitchell said Wilson was a single father of five, aged two to 13, and cared for his bedridden pensioner father. He also said he assisted the young people in the area, supported his nephew, Kareem Marcelle in his law studies, and was an activist for the UNC.

Mitchell said it was Wilson’s passion for the community that “found him in that position.”

Busby, in his response, said Wilson had a string of convictions, dating back to 2000, some of which involved obstructing the police, and “appeared to have difficulty respecting authority.”

“You are an exemplar, and this is the example you are setting? Showing public disregard for a minister doing public service as the MP?” Busby asked.

He said Wilson incited and agitated an already upset and unhappy crowd of people.

“It cannot be that nothing matters in this country anymore,” he said. In calling for the magistrate to send a message to society, Busby said.

At the trial, Hinds said he fel “insulted, affronted, threatened by and annoyed with the obscenity and disrespect” Wilson showed him on August 14, 2018, when he went into the Beetham Gardens area to help residents affected by flooding.

On that day, Hinds and local government councillor Akil Audain toured areas of the Beetham community affected by heavy rain.

The two were speaking to residents on 16th Street when a group of men kicked water on them and after confronting the group, they had to flee, as the men, who were armed with buckets, chased them.

Wilson is alleged to have said, “For 56 years, the PNM did nothing for f---ing Beetham. Hinds, is only promise you making, you doing nothing for the f---ing people.”

Also charged in relation to the water-throwing incident was another resident, Richard “Snake” Marcelle, a worker with the Port of Spain City Corporation’s drainage department.

Marcelle pleaded guilty to using obscene language and assault and was fined $100 and $300 respectively.

Wilson, 46, was granted $10,000 bail. Social activist Wendell Eversley, a close friend of Wilson’s, agreed to stand as his surety.