Man who berated cops to pay thousands

Stephen Witter, the man who was arrested after berating cops at Hellshire Beach in St Catherine, was convicted on Thursday for several breaches in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court.

Witter, 42, was videotaped on Sunday, March 7, telling cops attached to the St Catherine South Division that they could not move him from the beach. The cops had gone there to disperse a gathering. He was arrested a day later by members of the St Andrew North Police Division in Stony Hill, and subsequently charged.

His sentence is as follows: Breaches of the Disaster Risk Management Act - $10,000 or 30 days; resisting arrest - $2,000 or 10 days; disorderly conduct - $1,000 or 10 days; indecent language - $1,000 or 10 days; obstructing police - $2,000 or 10 days; assaulting police officer - $10,000 or 10 days.

In total, Witter was fined $26,000 or 80 days in jail. He is to appear in the St Catherine Parish Court on March 30, to answer to additional charges laid against him in that division.