When Jason Omar Evelyn returned to court for sentencing yesterday, he reminded the magistrate of his drug addiction and repeated his request for rehabilitation.

Evelyn, 27, of no fixed place of abode, pleaded guilty earlier to stealing $1 580 in items from Fusionz Boutique between September 15 and 16. He later insisted to Magistrate Douglas Frederick that although he had pleaded guilty, all he stole was one t-shirt.

Sergeant Martin Rock told the court last time that Evelyn was walking through Tudor Street, The City, when he noticed a store with a broken show window.

He pushed his arm through the window and removed the property.

“I am asking you if you can help me in any way,” Evelyn beseeched the court.

Magistrate Frederick remanded Evelyn to the Psychiatric Hospital until November 6 for him to be assessed for suitability into a drug rehabilitation programme.

A 14-year-old school girl is missing and police are appealing to the public for help.

Trekida Worrell, a student of the St George Secondary School has not been seen since she left her Greenwich St James home yesterday about 6:00am.

She was dressed in school uniform, with white socks and black shoes. She was carrying a green and pink fluorescent haversack at the time.

Trekida is of light complexion, slim and is five feet, six inches in height.

She has a long face, pointed chin, long legs and speaks in an abrupt manner.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts  is asked to call Emergency number 211 or the nearest police station.

Trekida Worrell who was reported missing this morning has been located.

Police say the 14-year-old St George Secondary School student of Greenwich, St. James is back home safe.

The Force thanked the public for their assistance in locating her.

BLP Christ Church West Central members tonight nominated St Joseph-born Adrian Forde to represent the constituency in the next general elections.

Adrian Forde is warmly embraced by some of his supporters.

Forde is a trained pharmacist who is credited with extensive community work and helping the unemployed into gainful
self-employment.

Following his uncontested nomination, he told the branch members his life was about taking on the challenge and the crusade “to champion those less fortunate – the marginalized”.

Forde also said he wants to see young empowered across-the-board and given the tools to work.

“All we are asking for is economic fairness.”

The new candidate said “people should go into politics to help people”.

A regional think-tank executive believes Justin Trudeau’s new Liberal government creates “the prime opportunity” for the Caribbean to advance relations with Canada.

Shantal Munro-Knight

“This is a young man who has just come to power and I am sure that there will be a lot of scope for defining a foreign policy,” Executive Director of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC) Shantal Munro-Knight told Barbados TODAY.

“If the region can get there and be proactive and put forward a case and establish relations with this new government, I think that would be to our benefit and for us to be able to do it sooner than later,” she added.

On Monday, the Canadian electorate handed Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party and son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, an absolute majority in the first change of government in a decade. At the same time, they handed a stunning defeat to outgoing Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Munro-Knight said the win augurs well for the Caribbean, noting that the Liberals traditionally have been friendlier towards the region. She believed that under the incoming administration, a renewed interest in the Caribbean would be encouraged.

“What we saw with the previous government, is a government that completely moved away from any kind of true development ethos and really had taken a very, very hard line in their relationship in the region and hopefully this new government will take a different approach and we will see a return to the kind of relationships that we were accustomed to in the past,” Munro-Knight explained.

The trade specialist said she was particularly looking forward to movement on a proposed Canada-CARICOM trade agreement that has been on the negotiating table for some time.

“There has been little movement, the process has been extremely slow and it is hoped that again that with the Liberal government . . . we will see . . . a more facilitatory position that will allow the process to move forward.”

“We will also want to ensure that we have this Liberal government now as an ally on several fronts, the whole prospective, not only from trade et cetera but a number of other development issues,” Munro-Knight said, pointing to areas such as climate change and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A Government minister today expressed serious frustration over the length of time it takes to get new schools constructed, while suggesting that some were deliberately seeking to “thwart” the Government’s vision.

“Lord, you have to wait in this country forever to get something done!” exclaimed Minister of Education Ronald Jones, while complaining that “the ground has not even been cracked” on a proposed multi-million dollar secondary school at Searles Court, in Christ Church.

Addressing the official launch of an Education Research Consortium project at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Jones further lamented that the money for the school had been allocated since 2011 and up to this day nothing had been done.

“We are determined that another secondary school is to be built at Searles in Christ Church. That determination was made five years ago. The money was there four years ago. The ground had not even been cracked. But that’s another reality,” he said.

While stating that he did not want to cast aspersions on anyone, the Minister said there were a number of primary schools costing about $100 million, which were also being held up.

“Lord, you have to wait in this country forever to get something done! In that time Combermere has 1,200 children. When Dr Downes [Professor Andrew Downes from the University of the West Indies] went there, it had 445. Today there are nearly 1,200 [which is] too large for such a small country. So we know we need between two to three others [schools] to bring the numbers down to about 900, particularly with post-secondary education taking place [for students ages] 17, 18,” Jones added.

He went on to charge that some people, who did not share the Government’s vision “see it as their right and their opportunity to thwart, to frustrate, to hide a file”.

However, he said the Government was determined to press ahead with its mandate.

“Wunnuh live in glorified worlds yuh. Wake up, smell the cassava blossom! Rough realities, but we going ahead,” the Minister assured.

In August last year, Jones had announced that work on the new secondary school at Searles was set to begin within another 12 months, while several existing ones would be demolished and rebuilt.

At that time, Jones was visiting several schools to assess their state of readiness for the start of the new school year in September.

Speaking on a stop at the Maria Holder Nursery School in Jackson, St Michael, he had also revealed that Government had already begun to issue tenders for construction.

The schools earmarked for refurbishment were the 130-year-old Wesley Hall Primary School; Belmont Primary School in My Lord’s Hill, St Michael; St Martin’s Mangrove Primary School in St Philip; Boscobel Primary School in St Peter; and the St Elizabeth Primary School in St Joseph, as well as the Wilkie Cumberbatch and St Philip Primary schools.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

In spite of their relative economic success, many countries in the Eastern Caribbean continue to be very vulnerable jurisdictions.

Leader of Government Business in the Senate, Senator Maxine McClean, raised this concern in the Upper Chamber today while leading off debate in the Loans (Latin America Development Bank) Bill, 2015.

Contending that in spite of its economic success, Barbados remains a vulnerable jurisdiction, McClean said: “The issue of graduation has impacted on countries like ours and we are in the process of arguing and lobbying both with bilateral and multilateral partners in various circles on this issue.

Senator Maxine McClean

“As recently as the last United Nations General Assembly, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and many of his counterparts would have made a case, over and over again, that the methodology, the criterion that has been used, the Gross Domestic Product, per capita income does not reflect the true vulnerabilities of our countries particularly those that are small island developing states like Barbados, or low lying states like Guyana or Suriname,” she added.

“Therefore the decision by these lending entities to graduate us has served to disadvantage us. We have been disadvantaged by our inability to access concessionary financing in a situation where Government must continue to function in a primary role as development agent, as stimulating the economy, as by in putting in place infrastructural projects to facilitate social development and to facilitate our economic development,” Mc Clean went on.

McClean, who is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, told the Upper Chamber that under these conditions, Barbados was forced to look for alternative sources in order to engage in borrowing at good rates of interest.

“I acknowledge the efforts of the current Minister of Finance, Chris Sinckler, in his search for options and in that search we have come up with CAF or the Development Bank of Latin America. This is a bank that was formed specifically to address the needs of its membership.

“It started out as a relatively small bank in terms of its membership. It was created in 1970 and at present has a membership of 19 countries including 17 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean, Barbados being one of the most recent members,” McClean said.

The Leader of Government Business said this is an important option for Barbados because the country has a challenge to source development capital at good rates.

McClean told fellow parliamentarians that funds provided by CAF would assist in addressing such issues as water resources management, Sargassum seaweed on the south coast and the rehabilitation of the road network. (NC)

There’s no need for doom and gloom about the Banks Holding Limited (BHL) takeover, according to the Barbados Economic Society (BES) and the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA).

BES President Jeremy Stephen and BPSA Chairman Alex McDonald told Barbados TODAY it was simply a case of business as usual and it was unlikely to trigger any major ripple effects in the short term.

Barbados Economic Society President Jeremy Stephen.

“From a business standpoint I see nothing really wrong with it. If there is a valuable asset for sale to be bought, these are transactions that happen all the time, “ said Stephen.

McDonald agreed suggesting it was a win in terms of foreign direct investment the island desperately needed.

“Essentially we have a very attractive local company which has been attracting a lot of attention from overseas investors and that’s a credit to good old management and a compliment to the way that we run our interests that we have in the market. Foreign direct investment is a wonderful thing,” the private sector leader said.

However, Stephen, a lecturer in the Department of Economics at the Cave Hill Campus, quickly waved a red flag over the Trinidadian company ANSA McAL’s decision to challenge the SLU Beverages Limited’s purchase BHL shares at $4.00.

He suggested that the move by ANSA McAL to upstage SLU, which is owned by the Brazilian company AMBEV, by taking the share price to $5.20 would be considered in more developed financial markets to be “unethical”.

“The reason why – is the fact that it [ANSA McAL] is seemingly going to form a regional monopoly or at least have a very monopolistic hold on the market, he said, while noting that ANSA McAL, which has its own drink brand, was now seeking to take over a Barbados drink brand with considerable reach in the Eastern Caribbean and Guyana.

“Ironically, outside of the Banks product itself, [BHL’s] Pine Hill Diary products are very popular in Guyana and from what I understand a bit in Suriname as well. So it seemingly is a very monopolistic move, a hostile kind of takeover,” Stephen added.

He said the pending transaction also raised questions about the true value of BHL.

“[Is] the brand’s reputation is so stellar because of market reach, because of management capacity, or is it because we have been under-marketing the beer for far too long?” the economist asked.

McDonald did not entirely share Stephen’s concern but admitted the takeover would represent a “consolidation of the beer and beverage industry”.

Neither he nor Stephen were worried however that a take over of this island’s largest beverage manufacturer would lead to short term closure of the company and job losses.

They also dismissed concerns about another foreign interest taking over a top Barbadian company.

Stephen said while he was “a bit ashamed” that another local company with a lot of international potential and high regard was the subject of a takeover bid, Barbadians should take a hard look at themselves and how they viewed business.

“It’s almost ten plus years after there was a wholesale sweep of Trinidadian companies coming in and buying up prime Barbadian assets. . . but it does speak to some of the deficiencies that we do have in this economy with what is our perception of risks,” he said.

The economist reasoned that “if Barbadians were heavily invested in such entities we could really have driven the share price way higher and ANSA McAL may not have find it favourable.”

McDonald also questioned why local interests did not make a play for BHL.

“I think that may have to do with the access to capital and the ease of getting money at a rate that can make an investment like that reasonable,” he suggested, adding that “again we have to look at the financial structures we have locally”.

Both men suggested that better days could be ahead for BHL, forecasting that the new owner was likely to invest and position the company for expansion.

“We have had inherent problems in managing costs and efficiencies at the factory. Even when the new BHL brewery was set up in Christ Church you had your challenges as well as those related to diary production.  Maybe these guys coming in with this extra capital could really help. Who knows!” Stephen remarked.

Barbados Private Sector Association Chairman Alex McDonald.

“By and large I think that most companies that would have been subject to buyouts, or mergers seem to be doing pretty alright. The big challenge for us will be how do we adapt to their culture and how do they adapt to our culture. That will be the interesting difference and their commitment to the Barbadian economy,” said McDonald.

sandydeane@barbadostoday.bb.

Tremaine Renaldo Williams today pleaded guilty before Magistrate Douglas Frederick to having marijuana and apparatus fit for using it with, on October 17.

Presenting the facts, police prosecutor Station Sergeant Neville Watson told the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court that police executed a search warrant at Williams’ St. Stephens Hill, Black Rock, St Michael home.

In the process, the officers found a plastic bag with marijuana in it, inside a pants pocket. They also came across a grinder with marijuana inside. Williams admitted knowledge of both small quantities.

During her mitigation, attorney-at-law Angella Mitchell-Gittens told the court that her client’s early guilty plea had not only saved judicial time but had also given insight into Williams’ mind.

“He has taken full responsibility even after he was made aware there would be consequences,” she told the court.

The defence lawyer said the 22-year-old had no prior convictionsand up to recently when he was laid off, had worked at a plant nursery. He now works periodically, she said.

Mitchell-Gittens also pointed out that the quantum suggested that Williams had the ganja for personal use and “not for financial gain which would have been a more aggravating factor.”

In questioning Williams, Magistrate Frederick wanted to know if he had bought the cannabis.

Williams said he found and got it off a tree.

“Oh, you are a nursery man so you would know about plants,” the magistrate replied.

“So you are not going to stop smoking this,” he questioned further.

“I will stop from today,” Williams replied.

The first-time offender was given 110 hours of community service to perform and will return to court on January 29, 2016.   

Retired trade union leader Dennis Clarke is totally against the planned take over of Barbadian-owned Banks Holdings Limited (BHL) by outside investors.

In fact, he said, if the current bid was successful, it would be nothing short of a “sad” development.

Clarke, who stepped aside as General Secretary of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) earlier this year after decades in the trade union movement, also expressed fear that the impending move would lead to further retrenchment in the private sector at a time when the country is already grappling with high unemployment.

Among those bidding for control of BHL are the Trinidad-based Ansa McAl and the St Lucia-based SLU Beverages Ltd.

Clarke is also concerned about what a take over would mean for small Barbadian shareholders in BHL.

“For me I think it is a sad time. I guess the people with the large shares in it, they will profit, but what happens to the common individual who had a little 10 shares here, and a little 20 shares there, when they [BHL] put shares up for sale and encouraged Bajans back in the 1960s to buy?” he asked.

Though accepting of the fact that “everything is for a time” and therefore change was inevitable, he said he remained hopeful that the institution could remain in Barbadian hands and that the jobs of locals could be guaranteed.

At the same time, he lamented the gradual disappearance of indigenous Barbadian enterprises saying his wish was that Barbados could hold onto BHL and not allow it to suffer the same fate as firms such as the former Barbados National Bank and Barbados Shipping & Trading, which are now owned by Trinidadian conglomerates.

“I believe that we should hold on to that institution (BHL) and don’t let it end up like how we have lost the national bank,” the former union boss advised.

“When you go through the Caribbean you find the various islands have their own national banks operating; we do not have one; and I believe that Banks Holdings Limited, . . . we should have been able to hold on it . . . and get majority shareholding or pretty near to it,” he contended.

The veteran trade unionist said before “you [would] pass by the shop in the district and hear a man boasting he had shares in Banks [BHL], but wondered aloud how such an individual would be feeling today.

“I would have loved to see that institution remain [with] the majority Barbadian shareholding] ,” said Clarke, adding that some foreign shareholders don’t really think much about the citizens of Barbados.

Clarke also warned that “in most hostile take overs, you will see that there is a downsizing.

“They [investors] hide behind the word deficiencies and therefore you are going to find that is what is going to happen. … I would hope not. But if I look at the pattern across the United States and Britain and those places, I fear that that is what might occur. I don’t want it, but I say that’s a fear that I have,” the former NUPW general secretary said.

SLU Beverages Ltd first announced the proposed take over bid of BHL earlier this month, having already helped finance construction of the new brewery at Newton, Christ Church, more than five years ago – and in the process became BHL’s single largest shareholder.

But earlier this week, Ansa McAl countered by offering a much better deal for the remaining shareholders of $5.20.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb

The move to a 24-7 work system simply will not happen overnight.

This assurance today from Minister of Labour Dr Esther Byer as she led off debate in the Senate on proposed amendments to the Shops Act to make way for a seven days a week economy, with four compulsory holidays each year.

Dr Byer pointed out that the discussion on the 24-7 workplace was ongoing and that “a lot of things have to happen before you can move wholesale to 24-7”. She did elaborate on the outstanding areas.

She however explained that a reformed Shops Act was intended, “to make better provision with respect to the opening and closing hours of shops, the terms and conditions under which persons are employed in shops and certain other businesses, and with respect to health and safety standards in shops.

“There are a number of operations in Barbados that already do operate 24 hours. We have gas stations for example, and the shops attached to those gas stations, at the hotels and certain shops at the airports . . .  in the industrial sector 31:52 we have workers who do work at night,” Dr Byer said.

“What our legislation does now is it establishes new opening hours that a shop may open continuously from seven o’clock on Monday straight through to 10 o’clock on Sunday night.

“That is 159 hours out of the 166 hours that will be 24-7 . . . with a little breathing space Sunday night into Monday morning.”

Regarding non-working days, the Minister said, “Our legislation also speaks to how we treat to closed days, in particular the bank holidays . . .  Independence Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday and Christmas Day. Those are the four closed days and they allow for opening on the other days.”

Under the new legislation, she said persons would no longer be required to apply to the Chief Labour Officer for permission to open on the other days.

“It is just those four days that we are considering as closed days,” the Minister said.

She said the aim was to accommodate the new across-the-board employment hours.

“So the legislation focuses in the main on what has to be done for those workers who are working at night.” (GA)

Law enforcers mounted an intense search this morning for 75-year old Marcelle Smith, who has been missing for the past 10 days.

In a joint operation, 43 Barbados Defence Force soldiers and 28 officers of the Royal Barbados Police Force descended on Lowlands, Christ Church around 5:15 a.m. where they conducted a three-hour intense search.

“There was some information obtained that led us to that area, nothing significant was discovered and the search is ongoing, said police spokesman David Welch following the exercise.

Police are seeking the public’s assistance in locating another missing teenage girl.

Fourteen-year-old Nichelle George of Huntes Road, Carrington Village, St Michael, left home on September 18 between 6:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m and has not been heard from since.

Police say Nichelle is about five feet six inches tall, of stout build, short black braided hair, brown complexion, round face and protruding front teeth.

She has a mole to the right side of her chin and is bow-legged.

Anyone with information relating to the whereabouts of Nichelle George is asked to contact police Emergency number 211 or the nearest police station.

Illegal drugs with a street value of more than 22 million dollars went up in smoke today at the incinerator at the Grantley Adams International Airport under the watchful eye of senior police officers, a court representative and Government analysts.

During the exercise, the second for the year, police destroyed 4,200.1 pounds of cannabis, 109.8 kilogrammes of cocaine and 30,827 cannabis plants — the majority of which were collected from matters that were disposed of by the court.

“Under the laws of Barbados there is a position that once these things [drugs] have been adjudicated, sampled and certified we can go ahead and destroy them once they go before the court. There are drugs here that were found as recent as this week,” Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police David Welch explained.

The police public relations officer said the compressed cannabis and the cocaine were valued at $22,290,000. He could not provide a value for the cannabis plants.

Of the drugs involved in court matters, there were 1650.4 pounds of cannabis, 104.1 kilogrammes of cocaine and 343 cannabis plants while no arrests were made in relation to the seizure of 2549.7 pounds of cannabis, 5.7 kilogrammes of cocaine and 30, 484 cannabis plants.

Welch said most of the illegal drugs were seized on land.

“Of significance you had large seizures such as that at Consett Bay where we had just over 3,242 plants, we had Walkers, St George 1,018 plants. We had Vaughn’s Land, St Joseph 3,135 and the most recent one at the end of September at Supers, St Philip where we harvested 18,188 plants,” he reported.

The majority of the cocaine seizures were interdicted at sea by the Barbados Coast Guard.

Retired justice Sir Frederick ‘Sleepy’ Smith is not hiding how he feels about the suspected abduction of his sister-in-law.

Marcelle Smith has been missing for over a week.

Sir Frederick told Barbados TODAY this afternoon he was simply “flabbergasted” by the situation, which led to the disappearance of 75-year-old Marcelle Smith, who has been missing for over a week now and he wants “the bastard” caught.

Sir Frederick Smith says he is completely flabbergasted at the disappearance of his sister-in-law.

“I am sad about it. It has taken me by surprise. I am completely flabbergasted at her disappearance and I wonder who could have done it and why?”

The retired jurist said his brother Aurelius, who is a retired Lodge School principal and his wife Marcelle had visited him at his home just recently after he had broken his thigh.

“I am really home-bound [and] learning to walk again; and she and her husband, who was headmaster of Lodge, came to see me just before she disappeared.”

His comments came in the wake of a search this morning for the Farm Road, St Philip mother.

In a joint operation, 43 Barbados Defence Force soldiers and 28 officers of the Royal Barbados Police Force descended on Lowlands, Christ Church around 5:15 a.m. where they conducted a three-hour intense search.

“There was some information obtained that led us to that area, nothing significant was discovered and the search is ongoing, said police spokesman David Welch following the exercise.

Just yesterday, Smith’s daughter Tanya and her son Roger made another public plea for help in locating their missing mom.

At a news conference they suggested that the elderly woman was abducted.

“Our mother Marcelle Smith is missing. No one has seen or heard from her since Tuesday, the 13th of October.  Our father is retired Lodge School headmaster Auri [Aurelius] Smith and we’re appealing to the public and the Lodge School network to help us locate her.”

She added that her mother’s last known location was Farm Road, St Philip and they were working with the police in their investigation.

“She is medically and mentally fit and does not have diabetes and I can confirm she did not travel outside of the island.

“Any information, however small, please pass it on to the police.  We have flyers with her pictures on social media and posted throughout the island.  Please help us,” she pleaded.

Tanya Smith arrived here from London, where she resides, while her brother flew in from New York to search for their mother.

“It’s been very hard because we don’t live in the country so myself and my brother have just arrived here so we’re just trying to focus on what we can do to get information to locate her,” she told Barbados TODAY.

“She’s my mother, she’s happy, she’s wonderful. She’s missing and we want to find her,” Smith continued.

Smith’s car, which she was driving when she vanished, has since been found abandoned at Culloden Road, St Michael.

Police have pledged to continue their probe in this latest mystery even as a $5,000 reward remains in place for anyone who could supply information that leads to her being found.

Cable and Wireless Communications (CWC) is at the center of a takeover bid almost one year after it successfully closed a $1.85 billion deal to take over Columbus International, which trades here as Flow.

The telecommunications giant today confirmed that it was in talks with Liberty Global PLC, a European-based international cable company that operates in 14 countries.

The two companies issued separate statements confirming that they were in discussion about the offer by Liberty Global to acquire C&W for cash and shares.

In its statement, Cable & Wireless however asked its shareholders not to take any action.

“There can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made nor as to the terms on which any firm offer might be made,” it warned.

For its part Liberty Global said,  “this announcement does not amount to an announcement of a firm intention to make an offer under Rule 2.7 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the “Code”). There can be no certainty that any offer will be made or on the terms on which any offer might be made. A further announcement will be made as appropriate”.

According to analysts, the deal would value Cable & Wireless at more than $US5 billion and could be settled by November.

Liberty Global is owned by billionaire John Malone who already has a 13 per cent stake in C&W.

He landed the shares after C&W bought out Columbus International in November last year.

Local C&W officials would offer no comment, saying the matter would have to addressed from the company’s Miami office.

A 16-year-old charged with escaping from the Psychiatric Hospital, was again remanded to HMP Dodds on Wednesday.

When Demali Donte Rashawn Prescott, of Block 13E Downhill Drive, Eden Lodge, St Michael first appeared in court last month, he was not required to plea to the indictable charge which Magistrate Douglas Frederick read to him in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court.

Prescott is charged with escaping from the Psychiatric Hospital on August 13 this year, while being a prisoner in custody at the Government Industrial School from April 17, having been sentenced to serve five years imposed on him by the Holetown Magistrates’ Court after being convicted of having an offensive weapon.

Welfare Officer Joseph Lawrence was also present at court this afternoon and he requested that Prescott be transferred to HMP Dodds. The reason was that Prescott had now made three attempts to escape, two of which were successful and the institution was no longer able to secure him.

Today, Deputy Principal of the Government Industrial School, Ronald Brathwaite, testified that Prescott had escaped twice but his last attempt had been foiled. In one instance, he was recaptured a month later.

Brathwaite also said that the District ‘C’ Magistrate had already warned Prescott but the GIS had asked to continue working with him further but “he does not seem to want to stay at the school”.

“At this time, we don’t seem to be able to contain Demali and he has been given many chances,” Brathwaite concluded.

During his address before Magistrate Douglas Frederick, Prescott repeated what he had said previously, which was that his mother is not in the best of health and has been unable to visit him.

Prescott said he asked and it was agreed that he would be taken to see her since late June but it did not happen.

“I never try to escape – that is what I hear,” Prescott said today. “I want a chance to prove myself to people ‘cause jail real hard.”

“Sending me jail ain’t making it no better for me; I want to be out there helping my family,” the teen said.

Magistrate Frederick explained both to the boy and his mother that his escape attempts mean that he cannot return to GIS and the only alternative was HMP Dodds.

“You can’t be out there on the streets because you need intervention in your life . . . they tried to work with you several times . . . ” the magistrate stressed.

“That is what he say. If them did try to work with me, you feel I woulda run away?” Prescott asked.

The magistrate advised the Deputy Principal to do the paperwork necessary to show that the school was no longer able to keep Prescott and to lodge that information at Holetown.

Frederick explained that since Prescott was already serving a sentence, he now had to continue doing so at the prison but the original sentencing court had to be notified.

In speaking to Prescott’s mother – who was on crutches – the magistrate told her that even though her son had said he wanted to see her on several occasions, “that is not the way to do it.”

Prescott’s escape case was adjourned until November 18.

Attorney-at-law Allan Carter was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital after falling ill at court yesterday.

According to reports, Carter mentioned that he was feeling unwell and asked a policeman for help from the courtroom with his books.

He was at the time in High Court No. 5 before Justice Jacqueline Cornelius, who was hearing bail applications.

It was while being assisted from the courtroom that Carter allegedly began stumbling, his speech became slurred and he began experiencing difficulty in moving the limbs on the left side of his body.

It is understood that Andrew Pilgrim QC called for an ambulance while Principal Crown Counsel Elwood Watts immediately prayed for Carter.

The ambulance was summoned to the Supreme Court and the defence attorney left, accompanied by his work colleague Angella Mitchell-Gittens.

Carter is one of the attorneys attached to Pilgrim & Associates.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, Stephen Lashley, will face a new Barbados Labour Party (BLP) challenger for the Christ Church West Central seat at the next general election, just over two years away.

Pharmacist Adrian Forde (left) shaking hands with Queen’s Counsel Ralph Thorne.

Pharmacist Adrian Forde, who comes to politics with a reputation for helping young people in the constituency, was unanimously chosen last night at a meeting of the BLP’s Christ Church West Central branch at the Christ Church Foundation School auditorium.

A succession of speakers hailed the choice of Forde, describing him as “a good man”, “compassionate”, and “someone who sets standards”, among other compliments.

BLP leader Mia Mottley criticized Lashley for what she described as inaction in the constituency.

“In Adrian, you don’t have the promise of action. You have the reality of action working for people in Christ Church West Central,” she said. “This type of representation matters to us. It matters to us to help people every day, to care.”

The youthful Forde is credited with helping large numbers of young people, especially men, in the district, and Mottley spoke of one of his programmes, HOPE – Helping Our People Everyday.

“When Adrian can start a programme called HOPE, not only does he understand the need to help people everyday, but he understands that if you don’t give people hope, they ain’t got nothing to live for.

“I look forward truly to being able to walk with Adrian Forde throughout the length and breadth of this constituency,” Mottley went on.  “Adrian Forde sets a standard for representation that will become a gold standard in this country.”

“A multifaceted man not adding only in the area in which he is trained, pharmacy, pharmacology and health care, but also in his passion to work with young people and work at the level of the community, and helping us to build out what the Labour Party calls proudly . . . the youth and creative economy, and I look forward to this kind of talent setting the standard of representation in the south,” Mottley added.

Queen’s Counsel Ralph Thorne, himself nominated few weeks ago to represent the BLP in Christ Church South, said: “He has put young men to work without being morally or legally obligated to do so . . . . He did it out of the love for his brothers and sisters.

“He did not hand them a fish, he has taught them to fish. Adrian has demonstrated that he is joined to this constituency. A good man and I feel comfortable with my association with Adrian,” Thorne said.

The party member nominating Forde, Errol Browne, said, “Adrian’s greatest characteristic is his compassion, his willingness to help those who seem helpless.”  He added: “A compassionate human being who is in his comfort zone when helping, giving and assisting is needed.”

Browne reported that the candidate started and is still involved with a driving programme for young men. He set up a company named ‘Medic Freighting’ for some of the qualifying drivers, who now own and operate the firm, with Forde as the advisor.

The nominator also sang Forde’s praises for setting another young person on course for a successful business selling conch shells on the beach.

Addressing the scores of supporters in the school, Forde recalled what transpired when the conch shell seller approached him with the business idea. “I tell him straight and plain, let us meet as a committee and see what we can do. He is now making US$250 a day, putting money in the foreign reserves of this country . . . . He is employing somebody and is paying taxes.”

“That’s how you grow a country, by empowering people.”

The candidate said his vision is for a Barbados that gives opportunity to those who are trying to help themselves. “All we asking for is economic fairness across the board”. He spoke of a number of artisans and other persons out of work and declared, “There is nothing going on for the people of this constituency… I’m going to fight for them and I want you to walk with me”. (GA)

Jamal Omar Freeman was granted $3 000 bail and told to return to court on February 16.

The Forde’s Road, Clapham, St Michael resident went before Magistrate Douglas Frederick today, where he denied assaulting Ronald Harewood and occasioning him actual bodily harm on October 6. Freeman is a 26-year-old general worker.