Being a school drop-out and illiterate are no excuses for breaking the law, says Justice Anthony Carmona.

The judge expressed this view as he sentenced 30-year-old Garrison Adams, of Moruga, to five years’ imprisonment for possession of 20.5 kilogrammes of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Adams’ attorney Mewahlal Chatoor, in a stirring mitigation plea, said his client had left school in Form Two, lived in poverty and was illiterate. Chatoor also noted that there was a 30 per cent drop-out rate in the school system. Alluding to this, Carmona said although progressive strides continued to be made in the education system, the issue of school drop-out was a serious one.

Carmona, in the San Fernando Second Criminal Court, said: “No child in T&T must be allowed to drop out of school...Parents must be held accountable.” The judge also noted that there was an endemic problem of marijuana cultivation and drug addiction in Moruga. Very often, he said, drug addiction and trafficking result in the spiralling crime rate in the country. In determining sentence, the judge said he considered that Adams spent eight prison years awaiting trial because he was unable to secure bail. But, he said the sentence must reflect the court’s abhorrence to such offences and as a deterrence to would-be offenders. The judge commended PC Byron Lee and acting Cpl Leon Haynes for doing excellent police work.

The State’s case, led by state attorney Maureceia Joseph, was that Lee, then assigned to the Princes Town Police Station, and other officers received information in November 2003. They went to Herrera Street, Penal Rock Road, Moruga, where they hid in some bushes. Lee said he saw the accused and another man under an abandoned house throwing marijuana in large plastic bags. He said he knew the accused three years before that date. When the police ran out, he said, the men ran into a canefield and escaped. The police found five large plastic bags containing the illicit herb.