Man with 19 convictions in jail again

A rap sheet of convictions dating back to 1994 for offences in five parishes swayed a judge to deny bail for a man in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday.

The accused, Devon Slowly, has previous convictions for fraud-related offences, and has been sentenced 19 times by jurists in St Elizabeth, Clarendon, Westmoreland and the Kingston and St Andrew. Slowly is currently before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court for larceny by trick, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, malicious destruction of property and conspiracy to defraud.

The allegations are that Slowly visited a store operated by the complainant along Hope Road in St Andrew and expressed interest in purchasing a cell phone. The complainant handed him the phone he liked, and Slowly allegedly attempted to leave with it without paying. A fight ensued and the police were alerted.

The Crown contends that Slowly received his last conviction in 2020, when he was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment, and that he poses the risk to reoffend, deeming him not a fit and proper candidate for bail.

But Davion Vassell, attorney-at-law representing Slowly, said that based on the closed circuit television footage of the incident, his candidate did not attempt to steal the phone from the complainant's store.

"Your Honour, he knows the complainant. He purchases stuff in the store before. He just went to purchase a phone," Vassell submitted.

However, Judge Venise Blackstock-Murray noted that Slowly's antecedents could not be ignored, and although he is entitled to his freedom based on the outline of the Bail Act, there is no guarantee that he will not reoffend.

"And it is based on that, that bail is denied at this time Mr Slowly," the presiding judge ruled.

Slowly was remanded in custody until September 12, when his trial is expected to begin.