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Do magistrates face periodic assessment?
It made conversation all around Georgetown. A young man who preyed on women, and viciously robbed them, was involved in another attack when a descent in nihilism occurred. The woman resisted. He slashed her. Private security guards cornered the serial robber but street cleaners provided safety for him.
One of Guyana’s prominent insurance entrepreneurs, Bish Panday, wrote a letter in this newspaper in response to this unimaginable descent into bestial rawness, deploring what the cleaners did.
The irony about cruel robberies is that these psychotic thieves do not prey on the wealthy. They deprive people who are from the ordinary classes trying to make a decent living. This serial robber preyed on women and stole from them inflicting physical harm. But if you think the cleaners’ attitude was unacceptable, you read further. Placed before Magistrate Ann McLennan, he pleaded guilty to four counts of robbery under arms and for each count was given nine months to run consecutively, meaning he got three years for his anti-women rampage. In two years time, this man will be out on the streets.
This is the same Magistrate that has placed enormous bail burdens on people who have been charged for theft and who are still awaiting trial spending months on remand. This is the same magistrate who has sent people to jail for non-violent thefts including a man who stole a panty (see KN, Sep. 12, 2015) This is the same magistrate that has imposed jail term on a man found with a mere smoking utensil (see my column of Nov. 27, 2014). By what logic, this vicious robber who was a predator staking innocent women be given three years for four violent acts of criminality? I could cite dozens of examples of jail terms imposed by this Magistrate for mere theft including two years for a Pomeroon resident for stealing 13 ounces of gold from his employer.
Alana Taylor
Convicted robber:
Devon Wilson
Magistrate
Ann McLennan
Justice Barlow sentenced a man to 35 consecutive years for sex with an underage girl. Weeks after the same judge imposed 15 years on a taxi driver who robbed a businessman on Water Street and shot dead the businessman’s handyman. Out of those 15 years three months will be deducted from each year. It means that the murderer will only serve eleven years.
No one wants blood in a civilized country. The law must take its course and people should be given a fair trial. But Magistrates have to look at the mood of society when they hand down their sentences. And the mood is that violent criminals should pay for their crimes.
Some of these Magistrates are just out of control. Dale Andrews of this newspaper told me of a recent case in which the magistrate’s conduct was improper and he should be investigated by the Judicial Service Commission. A victim was asked how much compensation she will accept for severe injuries. She said two million. The accused was asked how much he is offering. He said $200, 000. The victim refused it. The Magistrate in an aggressive tone, shouted to the victim; “So you are refusing compensation.”
This was outrageous conduct. This is blatant bias. I asked the Commission to investigate similar blatant bias on the part of Magistrate Judy Latchman.
The prosecutor informed Latchman that the accused, Ann Taylor, was wrongly charged. Mark Waldron, the lawyer then asked for bail to which the prosecutor did not object. Magistrate Latchman refused and remanded the accused. This was a blatant case of the abandonment of her role as a neutral judge. In court, the judicial officer has to be guided by what is in front of him/her.
The State’s explanation was that the wrong person was charged. It is the State that is responsible for prosecution. The judge is and has to be neutral. How then could the Magistrate refuse bail? I took Latchman in front of the Judicial Service Commission.
I received a letter months after saying that after an inquiry, she was exonerated from conduct unbecoming. I was never called to the inquiry. Mark Waldron at the wake for Nigel Hughes’ mother was unambiguous in his response to my question – he was never summoned to testify.
We can expect more irrationalities from the judicial system because no one bothers about our drift into nihilism. Don’t expect the Bar Association to support periodic psychiatric evaluation of magistrates; the lawyers make their living practising law in front of these magistrates.
In the meantime, it remains a secret which female magistrate applied for judgeship and was refused. Why is that information secret?
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