After hearing a bail application by the attorney for a man accused of having two forged $50 notes, Magistrate Kristie Cuffy-Sargeant denied him bail.
John Nathaniel Bancroft, of Odessa McClean Road, My Lord’s Hill, St Michael, reappeared before the District ‘A” Magistrates Court today on the October 31 charge.
Attorney-at-law Sally Comissiong urged the court to grant the self-employed landscaper bail. She submitted that the charge before the court is one where Bancroft has been “suspected” of committing the offence.
She added that although he is known to the court, his history shows that when on bail he turns up for his matters. She pointed out that the accused is therefore not a flight risk and conditions could be added to his bail “on terms that the court may deem fit”.
Comissiong also asked the court to “temper justice with mercy” and in the spirit of the season, to grant her client bail so that “he can spend Christmas with his children”.
Though the charge the “family man” is facing is serious, she said, “it is not as serious as others for which bail has been granted”.
However, in her denial of bail, Magistrate Cuffy-Sargeant cited Bancroft’s antecedents, the nature and seriousness of the offence and the need for the society to be protected.
The accused was remanded to HMP Dodds and returns to court on December 21.