A
alexk
Guest
A single mother who kept a man’s marijuana stash at her home in order to obtain extra money to buy school supplies for her three children has been jailed for 12 months.
Sunita Singh, 34, broke down in tears as she was being escorted from the San Fernando Magistrates Court.
Singh, who has a previous conviction for a similar offence, pleaded guilty to possession of 230 grammes of marijuana.
Prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said around 3 pm on Sunday, WPC Marshall, accompanied by other officers of the Gasparillo Police Station, executed a search warrant at Singh’s Gopaul Avenue, Gasparillo home.
Marshall found 13 foil packets of marijuana under a wooden kitchen cupboard and a quantity of marijuana wrapped in transparent wrapping. The officer also found 200 empty blue plastic packs and a box containing 1,000 white wrapping sheets.
The police claimed Singh told them that she had given the rest of marijuana to a man to sell last Friday, but Singh claimed she only told the police that she got the illegal drugs from the man.
In asking for leniency, Singh’s attorney Annalee Girwar said her client did janitorial and domestic work but her income could not cover the cost of school books and supplies for her children, who are aged 14, 11 and six years old.
With the school term opening fast approaching, Girwar said Singh felt a sense of hopelessness and decided to keep the drugs for the man in exchange for money. She said a church gave her a few hundred dollars but it barely scratched the surface.
Considering the quantum of drugs and the other items found, First Court Magistrate Alicia Chankar said it was clear that the drugs were packaged to sell. “Why would you leave that around your children?” asked the magistrate. Singh apologised and promised never again to find her self in such a situation again.
The magistrate asked her if she did not learn anything from the previous time she was charged. Singh said the last time she was charged for drugs which belonged to her male companion.
“We are very aware of how hard times are,” said Chankar, who empathised with her situation. However, the magistrate said, “I am not going to sit here and condone this.” She noted that Singh had a previous conviction and like the first time was again claiming that the drugs belonged to someone else. The magistrate ordered her to serve simple imprisonment. Singh’s relatives also left the courtroom in tears.