Bahamas Court News

NASSAU-A 23-year-old pregnant woman has been jailed for six months after she admitted knocking a teenager with her car.

Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans handed down the sentence after convicting Tiffany Melissa Johnson assault with a dangerous instrument and causing harm.

The court heard how Johnson tried to mow down a 17-year-old boy as he walked on Butler Street in Nassau Village on July 20.

The child jumped out of the way, but still received minor injuries, the prosecutor Sergeant Kendrick Bauld said.

The expectant mother claimed it all began when the boy cracked her windshield with a rock. Johnson said she turned around and tried to hit him.

Johnson provided the same motive when questioned by police. However, they found her claim “unfounded”, the court heard.

According to Johnson, she had made numerous complaints against the teen. Johnson said after she fell out with his sister, the boy kept bothering her.

This harassment included calling her names and wetting her with water. However, she claimed police never acted on her complaints.

Condemning vigilante justice, Magistrate Vogt-Evans sentenced Johnson to six months.

Johnson begged for leniency, saying that she was due in December.

But the magistrate said pregnancy did not justify a non-custodial sentence.

NASSAU-A judge on Tuesday granted bail $9,000 bail to a nursing mother accused of armed robbery.

Prosecutors say Matina McKenzie, 37, held up Coca Cola on University Boulevard with her boyfriend, Ashley Minnis, 29, and Letero Pyfrom, 25, on July 16.

They faced charges of armed robbery and receiving at their initial court appearance.

They’re accused of robbing cashier Derrick Hepburn of $544.90 while armed with a .380 pistol. In the alternative, prosecutors allege they received the money.

They did not have to enter pleas to charges of armed robbery and receiving when they appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt.

She refused them bail and adjourned the matter to November 4 for the presentation of a voluntary bill of indictment.

Soon after, attorney Ian Cargill applied for emergency bail for McKenzie, the mother of a four-month-old.

Justice Bernard Turner granted bail so that she could look after her infant. However, Minnis and Pyfrom remain in custody.

NASSAU-Three men who took the law into their own hands were sentenced to fines and probation.

Travis Newman, Stephen Greenslade and Terran Tinker sprung into action after a 13-year-old girl claimed Ramon Newbold made a pass at her on July 13.

The men lured Newbold, a technician, from his home under the guise that they wanted him to repair a computer.

When he arrived, they tied him up and tased him. When the taser went dead, the men burned Newbold about the body with a clothing iron.

The men pleaded guilty to causing grievous harm on arraignment.

Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans fined them each $1,000 or one year in prison. She also placed them on probation for one year.

If they violate probation, they will each have to pay a $5,000 fine to avoid spending one year in prison.

However, police did not charge Newbold with a sex crime against the teen. Instead, they charged him with threats of death.

Prosecutors alleged that he threatened to kill the 13-year-old girl.

Newbold denied the charge and was remanded to prison pending his trial, which begins on September 28.

Newbold will remain in prison unless he gets bail from the Supreme Court.

NASSAU-A man broke a policeman’s finger during a fight with his girlfriend.

Constable Nikeino Smith was injured as he intervened in a fight between Timicko Williams, 27, and his girlfriend.

The incident took place around midday at Potter’s Cay Dock on July 12.

The court heard that Williams threw a bottle at Smith, an officer at the Criminal Investigation Department, and broke his finger after he separated the feuding couple.

Williams admitted the charge of causing grievous harm at his arraignment before Senior Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans.

However, Mr Smith didn’t identify himself as a policeman. Additionally, Smith he wore his own clothing.

But the magistrate told Williams, “Any citizen could stop the commission of an offense to protect the life of himself or a random stranger.”

Initially, Williams claimed that he had injured Mr Smith while aiming for his girlfriend.

But he later admitted that the officer was his target.

Williams claimed that he had problems controlling his temper and apologized for his actions

The magistrate ordered Williams to pay $500 in compensation to the wounded officer.

He’ll spend six months in prison if he doesn’t pay the money by July 27.