A San Fernando magistrate yesterday deferred the sentencing of a 17-year-old boy who pleaded guilty to three traffic offences, pending a report of his academic progress, for December 16. "I want proof of his results and progress in school. I want to see marks, not letters from teachers," senior magistrate Rajendra Rambachan instructed the father of the boy, when he appeared before him in the San Fernando Traffic Court. The teen, who is charged with driving without a permit, without insurance and breaching a no right turn traffic sign, said he took his father's car without permission to get to school on time for an examination.
He said it was raining, he was not well and no one was there to drive him to school so he took his father's car. He was arrested on December 8, 2010 when he breached a no right turn sign at the La Pique and Pointe-a-Pierre Road intersection, San Fernando. He first told officers he had forgotten his permit at home but later confessed he was only the holder of a learner's permit. The boy's father told the magistrate his son was an excellent student, who has attained seven subjects at ordinary levels and was presently pursuing advanced levels and computer studies.
The magistrate told him, while he was on his way to being a good citizen, "it is not a normal part of a citizen's life to be charged and come here (in court) you know. "Education, to me, is a very good guarantee to rule compulsion." Rambachan asked for proof of the boy's academic excellence since, he said: "I need to know if he is being socialised...to follow rules and obey.