A 40-year-old cook who police said admitted to trafficking a quantity of marijuana was this afternoon charged and remanded to prison for the offence.
Trisha Haynes of Fourth Street, Bartica pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that, on May 18, 2019 at the Bartica Police Station, she had in her possession 576 grams of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
The woman appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
She was represented by attorney-at-law Trenton Lake who, in an unsuccessful bail application, told the court that his client was merely a passenger in a boat when police requested to carry out searches on the female passengers.
He added that the drug was not found in his client’s possession and that the bag in which the drug was allegedly found belonged to someone else.
However, facts presented by Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield indicate that, on the day in question at about 5:50 PM, police ranks acting on information went to the Bartica Ferry Stelling where they made contact with the defendant. A search was then carried out on her and a quantity of leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be marijuana was found in a handbag that she was carrying.
The court heard that when the allegation was put to her, she gave police an oral statement admitting to the offence. She was then arrested and taken into custody.
On those grounds the prosecutor objected to bail being granted to the woman.
The chief magistrate, after listening to the facts, remanded Haynes to prison on the grounds that no special reason was given to grant bail.
She is expected to make her next court appearance on June 19, 2019 at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court.
