Conman Smith hauled before court again

Notorious Conman Allister “Tombstone” Smith finally had his day in court on Monday after being on remand since May this year.{{more}}

Smith had been slapped with four charges of deception when he appeared in court on the first occasion. He pleaded not guilty to obtaining by deception $4800, the property of Ronnell Bobb, of Tortola, and Prospect, on March 20, 2008. He was also charged with dishonestly obtaining US$1,000 from Bobb on April 3, 2008, at Kingstown; for obtaining US$1,600 on March 12, 2008, and on January 10, 2008, at Queensbury, Vermont, by deception and obtaining one pig valued at $900 from Darrel Wiseman by deception.

Wiseman’s matter was the first to be called at Monday’s sitting of the Serious Offences Court. The 81-year-old retired man told the court that he was at home when a vehicle pulled into his yard. Wiseman said Smith got out the vehicle dressed in all white and asked him if his name was Darrel Wiseman, to which the elderly man said he replied yes.

Wiseman said Smith told him that he was a minister in the Anglican Church and that he came to purchase his (Wiseman’s) pig. “He tell me he need some pigs and cattle because the church going to have a conference,” Wiseman recalled. Stating that he is an Anglican, Wiseman said he agreed to sell Smith the pig.

He added that Smith told him that he (Wiseman) should go to the Anglican Rectory in Kingstown to collect the money for the pig and that he would send a truck to pick up the swine at around 6pm. Later that said day, a truck with a different driver came to collect the pig.

The following Friday, Wiseman said he was in Kingstown and went to the Anglican Rectory to collect the money for his animal, but was told by persons there they didn’t know anything about Smith and the pig. To date, Wiseman said he hasn’t seen the pig or the money.

Chief Magistrate Sonya Young granted a final adjournment in the matter to allow the prosecution to get their other witnesses. The prosecutor noted that the arresting officer was on vacation and he was not sure when he would be back on duty.

Station Sergeant Nigel Butcher assured Magistrate Young that the other witnesses would be presented when the matter resumes on November 7.