WESTERN BUREAU – A resident magistrate is to decide on March 20 how deejay, Michael “Alozade” Sterling is to pay the $140,000 in damages he owes to Montego Bay Constable Ronald Reid, whom he assaulted in a packed courtroom over a year ago.

On Monday, Montego Bay RM, Carolyn Tie, set the case for that date after the two parties were unable to agree on a payment plan.

The deejay, who appeared before the court without an attorney, told the court he would be able to pay in tranches of $7,000 monthly until the money was paid in its entirety.

“Alozade” recently told Splash, the Observer’s weekend entertainment publication, that he had been experiencing a fall-off in earnings since his incarceration last year and would, therefore, be unable to come up with the $140,000 in one lump sum.

But Reid’s attorney, Morrel Beckford, was on Monday unwilling to accept Alozade’s offer to pay $7,000 monthly because of the length of time that has elapsed since the deejay was ordered to pay the $140,000.

The attorney said he would be willing to accept a monthly payment of $50,000 that would see the sum paid in full in three months. At any rate, the maximum time allowed in law for Alozade to repay the money is 12 months. This means that he will be required to pay at least $11,600 monthly and not the $7,000 he suggested.

Alozade was slapped with a civil suit after he assaulted Constable Reid inside the western city’s RM Court in the presence of RM Paulette Williams on September 27, 2001. He had appeared on a charge of using indecent language during the August staging of Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest. During his court appearance, he was cited with contempt of court after being disrespectful to the RM and things took a turn for the worse as Constable Reid escorted him from the courtroom.

The deejay, offended at being restrained by his pants waist, lost control and smacked the cop.

A fracas then ensued in the courtroom as other cops rushed to restrain Alozade.

Constables Reid and Steve Dempster were later taken to the Cornwall Regional Hospital while Constable Gilmore Jarrett’s cellular phone was destroyed.

The deejay was subsequently slapped with two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, malicious destruction of property and using indecent language.

He later pleaded guilty to the charges but was sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment at hard labour and fined $16,000 on October 2, 2001.

In addition, Constable Reid brought a civil suit against him. Beckford said the $140,000 included “aggravated damages” because of the circumstances of the assault.

But with Alozade failing to pay up in accordance with a May 14, 2002 order, Beckford filed a judgement summons on his client’s behalf, in an attempt to recover the money. It was that judgement summons that brought Alozade to court Monday.