Surety in hot water after accused skips court

A woman who stood as surety for three persons may have to pay the court up to $90,000 in penalty after the persons absconded bail.

Brought before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday due to the failure of the persons she bailed to attend court, the woman told the judge that she had no idea where to locate them.

"Your Honour, I don't know [why they are not here]. It was my sister that called me and asked me to bail her boyfriend and his friends. From that day until now, she blocked me and each time I come court and give my mother the information to give her, she is not responding," the woman told the court.

By virtue of being a surety, one essentially agrees to take responsibility for a person accused of a crime. The three defendants for whom the woman stood as surety are charged with breaching the Disaster Risk Management Act. The accused were each bailed at $30,000, thus the woman could be ordered to pay $90,000.

Senior Parish Judge Lori-Ann Cole-Montague said it was ill-advised for persons to stand surety for people they do not know.

The judge was commenting on a matter before the court, where three defendants charged for breaching the Disaster Risk Management have been absent from court continuously. Baffled by the woman's ordeal, the judge stressed to her that she should exercise caution the next time a similar situation should arise.

"That's why you must bail people who you know and trust, people who are decent people. But like how you come court and you're decent about it, I will exercise my discretion to not have you pay the full amount," the judge said.

"Is not everybody who call you that say they are at station, you must round down there, you understand? That is the problem. You bailing people who you don't know and when you say you are bailing people, you are essentially signing a contract with the Government to say these are people I know, these are people honourable enough and I am undertaking to have them in court and if they can't come court, I will pay the money," Cole-Montague said.

The woman is to return to court at a later date, at which time she is expected to pay over the money she put up as surety. A warrant was issued for the accused arrests.