The notion of a lengthy prison sentence proved too much for a pregnant mother of two, who collapsed in the Port-of-Spain High Court on being ordered to serve 15 years in prison for drug trafficking.Shortly after sentence by Justice Hayden St Clair Douglas in the Fifth Criminal Court, Nisha Outram, 32, who is six months pregnant, collapsed.Court and Process Branch officers quickly went to her assistance and attempted to revive her.
Within five minutes, Outram regained conciousness and was then escorted out of the court. Screams and muffled sobs were heard from Outram's relatives who were seated in the public gallery.Outram and her ex-husband, Dexter Brown, were before St Clair Douglas charged with marijuana and cocaine trafficking.The couple, married at the time, was arrested after police seized almost $2 million in cocaine and marijuana at their farm at Brazil Road, Wallerfield, on November 6, 1999.
As part of her mitigation plea, Outram wrote a letter to St Clair Douglas pleading for leniency. In the letter, Outram said she was 18 at the time of her arrest and involved with the wrong company.St Clair-Douglas said the letter would have been useful for Outram had she initially pleaded guilty to the charges instead of wasting judicial time by taking the case to trial.
Caribbean Prestige Foundation founder William Munro, who is a Brown family friend, was in attendance at the sentencing yesterday. Brown was handed an 18-year prison sentence by St Clair-Douglas who considered his previous conviction on arms and ammunition possession.In passing sentencing, St Clair-Douglas said he focused on the deterrent aspect of sentencing. St Clair-Douglas repeatedly referred to the dangers of drug use and addiction.
"Drug trafficking is no doubt committed in the pursuit of great profits but it also causes great harm to communities," St Clair-Douglas said.The judge said one of the aggravating factors in the sentencing was the "massive quantity" of drugs found in the raid."From the amount, it was clear that the purpose was for sale or distribution either nationally or internationally," St Clair Douglas said.
During the trial, the State's main witness, retired police Sgt Neville White, testified that during the raid on the couple's farm, he and other police officers had done surveillance on the couple's property for some time before the raid."Wallerfield is a farming area and there was no farming taking place on that property," he said.During the trial the couple claimed they were framed by the police who fabricated the evidence.
They were represented by Ravi Rajcoomar and John Heath, while Jennifer Martin represented the State.