A 23-year-old man who tore up two fixed penalty tickets and threw it on the ground in front of a police officer has been fined $600 for littering.
Triston Philip, of Moruga, pleaded guilty when he appeared in the Rio Claro Magistrate’s Court.
Court prosecutor Sgt Shazeed Mohammed said around 8.30 pm police officers, including PC Phagoo, were passing along Basse Terre Road in a police vehicle when he saw a B14 parked on the pavement.
Loud music was coming from the two speaker boxes on the hood of the car.
Phagoo asked Philip to turn down the music and he complied. The officer asked him why he was parked on the pavement and if he had written permission to play loud music in a public place. He remained silent.
The officer then wrote two tickets and handed them to Philip who took the tickets, but said, “This is the countryside, you cudda give me a bligh, I not paying no ticket.”
Philip then ripped up the tickets and threw the pieces on the roadway.
Mohammed said the officer asked Philip to pick up the pieces as that amounted to littering, but he refused.
Phagoo subsequently arrested and charged him.
Philip told Senior Magistrate Rae Roopchand that he was intoxicated and apologised for his actions.
However, he denied that the officer asked him to pick up the scraps of paper.