Sykes again speaks out against ganja smoking at Supreme Court
Published:Thursday | February 9, 2023 | 9:08 PM
Chief Justice Bryan Sykes today again raised concerns about the smoking of ganja in the Supreme Court building.
Sykes characterised the building as the biggest ganja smoking session in Jamaica even though the precinct of the court is a no-smoking zone.
“In the afternoon if you want to smoke ganja just come to the Supreme Court and you will be accommodated. It has permeated the whole building,” he lamented following the resumption of his summation of the Clansman One Don Gang trial after the lunch break.
This is not the first time Sykes has raised the issue.
He spoke out against it in 2019 during the then Uchence Wilson Gang trial.
It was claimed that the defendants were allowed to smoke ganja in the holding area.
At the time, Sykes had warned that there would be serious consequences for police personnel who continue to facilitate the practise.
Today, the judge again highlighted the matter noting that it is a cause for concern as there might be inmates and officers of the court who have respiratory illnesses.
“So, we can't have a situation where people feel like if them want to have to puff them just come down to the Supreme Court and they are free as a bird to just smoke away,” he said, noting that the matter has to be looked in.
The judge also noted that the issue poses a serious risk as it means that persons have access to an item that can be used to start a fire.
“As far as I know people don't snap their fingers and the ganja burst into flames, meaning that somebody has access to naked flames, lighter, or matches.
“If a fire starts down there, we have not just these defendants but all the other persons who may be in the holding area, so what is going to happen to them?” he said.
In 2015, Supreme Court judge Lennox Campbell also expressed frustration that prisoners in custody at the Supreme Court building continued to breach the law by smoking ganja.
Campbell lamented then that the offence happens with great frequency and that he was amazed that it was taking place in the building.
- Tanesha Mundle
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