Curfew breaker admits to shop breaking

One of two men who was found hiding under a truck last month after curfew hours pleaded guilty to shop breaking when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Wednesday.

The court heard that on January 4 at 1:50 a.m., police received reports of two men hiding under a truck along Water Lane. Orlando Edwards, 26, and his co-accused Jermaine Robinson were subsequently arrested and charged. Last month, the men were ordered to pay a fine of $90,000 or serve six months' imprisonment for breaching the curfew. For the shop breaking charge, Senior Parish Judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montague postponed sentencing until a later date as she requested a social enquiry report. Edwards was made the subject of a fingerprint order and he was remanded until April 21.

Last month, the judge, before handing down her sentence for the breach of the Disaster Risk Management Act, condemned the men, stressing the need to send a message as a deterrent to the public against breaking the COVID curfew. At the time, the island's COVID-19 positivity rate was 46 per cent. As of February 22, the positivity rate is seven per cent.