Mitch pleads guilty on second go
Charges re-read for second time; lawyer asks court for leniency
Mr. Freeman pleaded not guilty for threatening language, being armed with an offensive weapon and common assault. Photo: VINO
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI - Jonathon ‘Mitch’ Freeman appeared before the Magistrate’s court today August 31, 2012, as charges were brought before him for the second time, and decided to offer a guilty plea.
In a previous court hearing, Mr. Freeman pleaded not guilty to the use of threatening language, being armed with an offensive weapon and common assault.
Appearing before Magistrate Tamia Richards today, with his charges being read to him a second time, he pleaded guilty to threatening language and being armed with an offensive weapon, and not guilty again to the charge of common assault.
Allegedly, on March 6, 2012 on Flemming Street, Road Town, ‘Mitch’ threatened and assaulted a Mr. Ramzair Bazaar, at Richards Bar, which is a restaurant upstairs of Peoples Shoe Store.
According to court records stated by Crown Counsel Representative Herbert Potter, Mitch allegedly told Mr. Bazaar “*uck you, *uck you, I’m going to kill you.”
The court also heard that Mitch was allegedly armed with a machete, which he waved in Mr. Bazaar’s face.
Meanwhile, Mitch’s lawyer Ruthilia Maximae asked the court to be lenient with her client. She asked the court to consider her client’s psychiatric evaluation and not to impose any custodial sentencing.
“Prison will not be [able] to give him the help he needs… the last seven years of his life, he has been a patient at the community mental health clinic,” she told the court.
She suggested that the man be requested to attend programmes to aid him in his drug and anger problems.
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7 Responses to “Mitch pleads guilty on second go”
We have already had a 6 year old boy (Jamiel Greenacre) murdered by a mentally disturbed person in 2004 and an American tourist (minding his own business) had his throat slit on Jost Van Dyke in 2007 by another mentally disturbed person. Now this!
In good conscience, how can we turn a blind eye to the threat that these people pose to society? Get them help by all means, but in the meantime, do the rest of us really have to be subjected to mentally unstable people who clearly have the capacity for violence?
If we are not going to keep them under lock and key, then surely the families should be held responsible for their care and 24 hour supervision? I feel sorry for the families of people with mental and emotional troubles, but why should the rest of us have to be concerned about them hurting or murdering our loved ones? If the government isn't going to provide a facility for such persons, perhaps they could assist the families (financially) in providing caretakers?
They really shouldn't be allowed to walk our streets unsupervised once they have demonstrated a capacity for violent behaviour.
poor dude must was pressured into this!