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Popcaan pleads guilty to four charges in St. Thomas court

Attorney Matthew Hyatt
 
Dancehall artiste Popcaan, whose given name is Andre Sutherland, pleaded guilty to four of five charges when he appeared in the St. Thomas Parish Court on Wednesday morning.
 
He was charged in connection with the staging of Unruly Fest in St. Thomas last December.
 
Mr. Sutherland reportedly became abusive after the police were forced to bring the show to an end after the promoters exceeded the time for its staging.
 
He pleaded guilty to using indecent language, disorderly conduct, using abusive and calumnious language and posing a threat to police officers.
 
His attorney, Matthew Hyatt, told the court that Sutherland's actions came when emotions were high. He said despite the show being called 'Unruly Fest', the event has been incident free over the years of its staging. He further argued that Popcaan, as a native of St. Thomas, gave back to his community. 
 
The judge, in handing down the sentence, noted that Sutherland pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity which she said qualified him for a fifty per cent discount. She gave a 25 per cent discount of the $2,000 charge. 
 
He was charged a total of $6,000 on the four counts or ten days on each count. The charges are to run concurrently.
 
When asked by the judge if he had anything to say to the police, Sutherland said 'no'.
 
His lawyers are, however, challenging the fifth charge of breaches of the Noise Abatement Act. Mr. Hyatt told the court that Sutherland's name was not on the permit neither was he a promoter of the event, therefore he is not properly before the court for that matter.
 
Popcaan is to return to court on February 9 when the Crown is to give its findings as to whose name was on the permit.
 


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