Hustler avoids jail on obstructing traffic charge

A 21-year-old was given a new lease on life after prosecutors decided to withdraw a matter against him in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Thursday.

Joseph Sommerset was discharged of obstructing traffic, an offence under the Main Road Act. But Sommerset, who appeared before Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell, claimed that he was only hustling in the major thoroughfare in the Corporate Area.

"I leave my house every day to hustle. I don't have a job, I just hustle on the streets to go home. Right now, I am hungry," Sommerset told the senior judge. Sommerset made his first appearance in court yesterday, after being in custody for a month and four days. He was being held at the Kingston Central lock-up, which was under quarantine due to an outbreak of swine flu. The proof of lockdown was ordered by officials of the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

However, given Sommerset's dire situation, the prosecutor indicated his intention to take a particular course and withdraw the matter.

"You need to be more conscious now okay? Just keep out of trouble," Burrell warned Sommerset before discharging him from the courts.

- T.T.