British teen, retired nurse on drug rap
WESTERN BUREAU — A tearful 61-year-old retired nurse and her teenage granddaughter were offered bail in the sum of $450,000 when they appeared before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate’s Court on ganja charges Tuesday.
The elderly woman, Linda Richards, and her 14 year-old granddaughter both live in Britain.
They arrived in the island on February 26 and were caught with more than eight pounds of ganja inside their luggage while attempting to leave the island on March 22.
But a sniffer dog at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay alerted the police to the suitcases.
A black suitcase with the elderly woman’s name affixed to it was found to contain four and a half pounds of the illegal substance concealed inside a plaque; while a green suitcase with the teen’s name on the tag contained four pounds of the substance, also concealed inside a plaque.
They were subsequently arrested and charged for possession of, dealing in and attempting to export ganja.
But in court Tuesday, their attorney Delford Morgan said the suitcases did not belong to his clients but to his older client’s female friend whom he identified only as Janice. She was said to have left the luggage behind as she was late getting to the airport for a March 11 flight back to Britain.
Having left the suitcases, Morgan said, Janice instructed the driver who had taken her from her home in St Ann to the airport, to have Richards take the luggage back to Britain. The suitcases, the attorney said, were later taken to Richards in time for her departure on March 22.
Morgan added that he had spoken with the driver, who was prepared to testify for the defence at the time of the trial.
At the same time, the attorney said his clients had no knowledge of the drugs contained inside the suitcase, and he asked that they be offered bail.
Until their next court appearance they would remain, he said, at his older client’s original home at Parottee District in St Elizabeth.
Presiding RM Paulette Williams later agreed to the bail request and the elderly woman was offered bail in the sum of $300,000, while her granddaughter was offered bail in the sum of $150,000.
As a condition of the bail they are to report to the Black River police station every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm. In addition, they are to tender their travel documents and a stop order has been issued against them.
The two are to return to court on April 15 when the forensic certificate should have been added to the case file.