BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Feb 25, CMC – Magistrate Manila Renee has given 74-year-old attorney, Hilary Jefferson Nelson, until Friday to return to court with his sureties to sign his bail or be sent to prison.
Nelson is on trial accused of stealing £347, 560.90 (One GBP=US$1.26 cents) from Errol Hewitt during the period November 13, 2018 and March 4, 2019.
He had appeared in court with one of two sureties but after the magistrate discovered that the surety present was scheduled to travel overseas on Friday, she ruled her unsuitable, insisting that a surety must be on the island to ensure the accused person attends court.
Magistrate Renee said that Nelson is a lawyer with perhaps double her years’ experience and he should know how the process works.
“This is nearly a million dollars; this is not something to sneeze at. This is a lot of money,” she told Nelson, who has pleaded not guilty to the offence.
“I am giving you time to get suitable sureties.You could even bring three if you want. I giving you until Friday. You could come back tomorrow, you could back Wednesday, but bring sureties to sign. When your matter is called up (on Friday)] and there are no sureties, you will be sent to jail.”
In 2019, Nelson was granted BDS$400,000 (one Barbados dollar-US$0.50 cents) bail with two sureties. He also had to surrender his travel documents.
CMC/fs.ir.2025