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A Canadian woman on drug charges received bail in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday due to severe ailments.
The accused, Veronica Kelly who resides in Toronto, is charged with possession, dealing and taking steps to export ganja.
According to the allegations, Kelly was stopped and searched during a routine spot check at the Norman Manley International Airport when she was found with 14 pounds of ganja in her luggage.
The accused woman, who has spent four weeks in jail, was unable to stay healthy in the lock-ups her lawyer told the court. The lawyer told the court that Kelly suffers from sickle cell disease and an infected kidney. Kelly's lawyer also indicated that his client's prescribed medication has not been located in the island.
Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey asked the lawyer for a medical certificate which he was unable to produce. An inspector from the Half-Way-Tree Police Station, however confirmed Kelly's illness, indicating that she had to be brought to a medical institution after suffering from a swollen leg.
Kelly received bail in the sum of $200,000 with a surety and was instructed to reside with her aunt in St Elizabeth as a condition of her bail. She was ordered to surrender her travel documents and to return to court on September 24