By FARRAH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
fjohnson@tribunemedia.net
A JAMAICAN man, who claimed he fled his home country to avoid being targeted by his uncle’s killers after he witnessed the murder, was charged in the Magistrate’s Court with overstaying his time in The Bahamas.
The 34-year-old man appeared before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle Davis after he was found in the country over the allotted time granted to him by an immigration officer.
He was arraigned alongside another Jamaican man, Shawn Millington, 33, who was also charged with the same offence.
The court was told that a team of immigration officers questioned the men while they were conducting an exercise in the Carmichael area on February 11. When officers approached the 34-year-old and Millington, neither of them was able to produce legal documents or show proof of their status in the country. As a result, they were arrested and taken to the Detention Centre for further processing.
Checks of the system revealed the first man entered the country legally in April 2019 and received an extension to stay until June of that same year. The prosecution said the man resided in the country one year, seven months and seven days after his visa expired. The court was told that the second man, Millington, also travelled to the country legally in July 2018 and was given permission to reside here until December 2018. He overstayed his welcome by two years, two months and seven days.
During the hearing, both men pleaded guilty to overstaying. The 34-year-old claimed that he came to The Bahamas because he had witnessed his uncle getting murdered and the alleged killers had threatened to take his life so he would not testify against them. He explained that in Jamaica, when you “see something, everyone expects you to keep your mouth shut”. He said once a person speaks to the police, they have to leave the community for their own safety.
Millington on the other hand, claimed he stayed in the country on an expired visa because his girlfriend became pregnant and gave birth to a still born baby. He said he planned to return to Jamaica and apply for the proper documents, but claimed the pandemic made it difficult to return home.
After listening to their explanations, Magistrate Rolle Davis fined the first man $1,500 or nine months in prison and Millington $2,000 or 10 months behind bars. He said after the fines were paid or the sentences were served, both men would be handed over to the Director of Immigration for deportation.
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