Three months after a fireman attached to the Mahdia Fire Service was charged with causing the death of his spouse in an accident, he was today charged with trafficking narcotics.
Osafo Bess, 27, of Mahdia pleaded not guilty to the charge which stated that on August 27, 2019, at 111 Miles, Mahdia, he had in his possession 43 grams of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.
Bess appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
His lawyer Ronald Daniels, in a successful bail application for his client, told the court his client was merely sitting at a shop playing video games when the police arrived and arrested him.
Facts presented by Police Prosecutor Gordon Mansfield stated that on the day in question, police ranks acting on information went to a shop where the defendant and others were conversing.
The court heard that the defendant, upon seeing the officers, dropped a black plastic bag at the side of a shop and began running.
An officer then retrieved the bag and leaves, seeds, and stems suspected to be narcotics were found inside. Hence, Bess was arrested and taken into custody.
With no objections raised by the prosecutor, Bess was released on $70,000 bail. The father of two was instructed to make his next court appearance on October 16 at the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court.
In May, Bess appeared before the Chief Magistrate and was charged with causing the death of his wife in an accident.
Bess had denied the charge which stated that, on May 20, 2019, at 111 Miles, Mahdia, Potaro Road, he drove motorcycle CH 3715 in a manner dangerous to the public, thereby causing the death of Abadacie Klass.
According to information, on the day in question, the defendant was riding his bike, proceeding north along the 111 Miles, Mahdia Road at a fast rate.
At the time Klass was the pillion rider. Bess reportedly lost control of the bike and crashed into a concrete drain. The woman fell to the road and received multiple injuries to her head and body.
She was picked up by public-spirited persons who rushed her to the Mahdia Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Bess is currently out on $150,000 bail.
The trial into the causing death by dangerous driver matter is ongoing in the Mahdia Magistrate’s Court.
