Pregnant woman fined $900 for cannabis

Melecia Shallow, a 24-year-old pregnant landscaper, pleaded guilty to having in her possession 738 grams of cannabis with intent to supply to another when she appeared at the Serious Offences Court on Wednesday, 6 May, 2009.{{more}}

According to the facts read in court, Shallow, a Georgetown resident, was at the Kingstown wharf on Wednesday, 5 May, 2009, when police officers approached her and conducted a search on her luggage. Police recovered a black plastic bag filled with loose cannabis material. The plastic bag was found in a cardboard box.

When police questioned her, she said that a man, who she doesn’t know, gave her the bag to take to Canouan.

When Chief Magistrate Sonya Young asked Shallow where she got the drug from and what she intended to do with it, the quiet mother of two said that a man who she doesn’t know, packed the cardboard box and brought it to her to take to Canouan.

“I get angry when people lie… and you are pregnant …you have involved yourself and your unborn child in this nonsense,” said an upset Chief Magistrate Sonya Young. Young asked Shallow several times to tell the truth. Shallow’s only response was to cry quietly.

In handing down her fine, Magistrate Young urged Shallow to not let anyone use her in any way and told her to think of her children. “You have to be a better example to your children.” Shallow was charged $900 to be paid forthwith or spend three months in prison. A destruction order was placed on the drug.(OS)