Woman on drug charge dismissed and deported

After she was dismissed on a joint marijuana charge on Monday at the Kingstown Magistrates Court, Gale Clarke thought her troubles were over.{{more}} As soon as Clarke was about to step down from the defendants’ box, an alert Prosecutor Station Sergeant Nigel Butcher made it known to the court that the Trinidadian national had overstayed her time here. She was deported the following day.

Police told SEARCHLIGHT that Clarke, 45, came to these shores on 11 April, 2007 and was given until May 10. Appearing before Senior Magistrate Donald Browne on Tuesday, The 45 year-old woman told the court that she is scheduled to marry a Vincentian and the next time she returns it will be in the right way.

The Vincentian whom Clarke was referring to is Questelles resident Elvis Hoyte, the man who she was jointly charged with. Hoyte pleaded guilty to having seven pounds of cannabis in his possession and was fined $7500.

He told the court that Clarke was his wife and that she comes to St Vincent on many occasions. “Is me wife and I getting me papers done in the court to get married in December,” explained Hoyte.

With a puzzled look, presiding Magistrate Donald Browne asked, “How could she be your wife and you are not married?”

Hoyte said that he and Clarke had been in a relationship which produced children who are schooled here.

“We love you in St. Vincent but you have to come good,” Browne told Clarke.

He also encouraged her to follow the proper channels when she returns to this country the next time.