NATION man charged

NATION JOURNALIST Timothy McDonald Slinger has been charged with burglary in the District “A” Criminal Court.

Slinger, 62, an associate managing editor of the Nation Publishing Co. Limited, appeared yesterday before Acting Magistrate Alliston Seale and pleaded not guilty to entering the building known as De Diva Hype Bar on Baxters Road, The City, as a trespasser between March 10 and April 15, and stealing 139 beers, 15 bottles of brandy, 12 bottles of whiskey, four bottles of vodka, two bottles of Irish whiskey and 13 bottles of wine, together valued at $2 361, belonging to Jacqueline Proverbs.

There was no objection to bail from prosecutor Sergeant Neville Reid; and Slinger, represented by three attorneys – Ralph Thorne QC, Andrew Pilgrim QC, and Ezra Alleyne – was granted $5 000 bail with a surety.

Thorne asked the court for an early reappearance date, stating that all the reported missing alcoholic beverages had been inventoried and were intact and that Slinger, of Bartletts Tenantry Road, Sargeant’s Village, Christ Church, had been acting as “an agent” for the owner of the property when the tenant called the police.

“Normally I would come and ask for a dismissal, but at this time I wish to entreat the court for an early next date,” Thorne said.

Meanwhile, Don Winfield Harper, 27, of Richmond Gap, St Michael, a carpenter who was allegedly involved in changing the locks at the property, was charged in the same court with the same offence on Monday, and was remanded to HMP Dodds for a month.

Harper will be brought back to court on May 18, while Slinger will reappear on May 6. (Coastline Communication)