Nassau, BAHAMAS- Police arrested a man in the garden of Government House after he entered the grounds undetected in a major security breach.
The Defence Force marines responsible for security at Government House didn’t notice when Clinton Saunders walked through the front gate.
However, marines later found Saunders asleep on the lawn while on patrol around 9:30pm on March 3.
Government House is the official residence of Bahamas Governor General C.A. Smith.
Governor General Smith was not on the property at the time.
Saunders, 39, pleaded guilty to vagrancy at his arraignment before Magistrate Samuel McKinney.
He sentenced Saunders to one month in prison and ordered him to get mental treatment.
Saunders, who is homeless, told police that he wanted somewhere safe to sleep. Saunders claimed he walked through the gate after a marine left his post.
This is not the first security breach at Government House.
National Security Minister Marvin Dames ordered a review of security at Government House after the murder of Petty Officer Percival Perpall.
He was gunned down while on duty at Government House on April 28, 2019.
The committee responsible for evaluating security procedures at Government House completed its report last month. The committee’s findings, however, have not yet been made public.
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