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Illegal immigrant jailed
Christopher Thomas, Star Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A Bahamian national who entered Jamaica illegally and then tried to leave using a forged passport stamp, has been sentenced to two months' imprisonment.
The verdict was handed down in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's (RM) Court recently after Ashmead Thompson, 24, of Nassau, pleaded guilty with explanation to illegal entry and uttering a forged document.
On May 15, Thompson attempted to board a Canadian flight at the Sangster International Airport using a passport that bore a stamp saying he had, arrived in Jamaica on May 2. Checks revealed there were no records of him having arrived. He was arrested and charged.
Thompson told RM Carolyn Tai he entered Jamaica on April 27, after fleeing thugs in Nassau. He later admitted that two of these criminals had come on a boat with him, but he managed to elude them and fled to Kingston.
He said, in Kingston, he went to a club where he met a man who told him that he could be connected to a former immigration officer. Following this, <span style="font-weight: bold">arrangements were made for him to meet the officer at a Chinese restaurant on Knutsford Boulevard, and it was there that he received a stamp in his passport. </span>"Do you believe that normal immigration matters are done in a Chinese restaurant?" RM Tai queried.
"Not in my mind," Thompson admitted, apologising and asking for leniency.
"I'm sorry for the offence I've committed. I hope you'll be as lenient on me as you can, because I'm scared for my life," said Thompson.
Christopher Thomas, Star Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
A Bahamian national who entered Jamaica illegally and then tried to leave using a forged passport stamp, has been sentenced to two months' imprisonment.
The verdict was handed down in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's (RM) Court recently after Ashmead Thompson, 24, of Nassau, pleaded guilty with explanation to illegal entry and uttering a forged document.
On May 15, Thompson attempted to board a Canadian flight at the Sangster International Airport using a passport that bore a stamp saying he had, arrived in Jamaica on May 2. Checks revealed there were no records of him having arrived. He was arrested and charged.
Thompson told RM Carolyn Tai he entered Jamaica on April 27, after fleeing thugs in Nassau. He later admitted that two of these criminals had come on a boat with him, but he managed to elude them and fled to Kingston.
He said, in Kingston, he went to a club where he met a man who told him that he could be connected to a former immigration officer. Following this, <span style="font-weight: bold">arrangements were made for him to meet the officer at a Chinese restaurant on Knutsford Boulevard, and it was there that he received a stamp in his passport. </span>"Do you believe that normal immigration matters are done in a Chinese restaurant?" RM Tai queried.
"Not in my mind," Thompson admitted, apologising and asking for leniency.
"I'm sorry for the offence I've committed. I hope you'll be as lenient on me as you can, because I'm scared for my life," said Thompson.
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