People's National Movement (PNM) and community activist McDonald Padmore yesterday was sentenced to a total of 17 months imprisonment, after pleading guilty to the possession of illegal drugs. Padmore, popularly called "Macky", stood before Magistrate Andrew Stroude in the Port-of-Spain Tenth Court to answer the charge. His son, Corneil Padmore, was sentenced to 18 months' hard labour, after pleading guilty to the possession of 690 grams of marijuana. The charges stemmed from a raid at their home on Sunday.
Officers of the North Eastern Division Task Force (NEDTF), led by Sgt Roger Alexander, including Cpl Kerwin Titre, PCs Jerome Gordon, Clint Dass and Amir Ali, executed a search warrant at the Padmore family home at Weeks Trace, San Juan, where McDonald lives upstairs and his son occupies the ground floor. The activist was held with seven grams of cocaine and 17 grams of marijuana in his home. The officers also seized 690 grams of marijuana at Corneil Padmore's home. His common-law wife, Lana Clarke, was charged with a similar offence but was released on $45,000 bail after pleading not guilty to the charge.
McDonald Padmore's wife Janet Padmore pleaded not guilty to similar charges against her husband, and was granted $35,000 bail. Both women would reappear before Stroude on October 28. The arrests of Padmore and his son followed an exercise in the Morvant and San Juan areas, which started at 10 am Sunday and ended at 7 pm. The NEDTF also held a 27-year-old man wanted on 15 charges, including carjacking and robbery. He was held at Eighth Avenue, Malick. Two men were also held in Niky Trace, La Canoa Village, with 7.3 kilos of marijuana.