A man who claimed that he was ‘merely testing the system’ when he attempted to obtain a second Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN) was on Tuesday ordered to pay a $60,000 fine when he appeared in the Half-Way-Tree Resident Magistrate’s Court.

Twenty-three-year-old Andre Grant pleaded guilty with explanation before presiding magistrate Judith Pusey to the charges of forgery, uttering forged documents and attempting to obtain a document by means of fraud.

When asked for the explanation for his actions by RM Pusey, Grant fumbled for a moment then uttered, “I was merely testing the system, your honour”, sending the courtroom into hearty laughter.

RM Pusey, however, told Grant that his test of the system was not yet completed, and that she would facilitate this for him.

“If you are testing the system that means you should finish it to its logical conclusion, so you can come to a clear assessment. That means you’re going to go to jail for it,” Pusey told Grant.

However, Grant was rescued from the jail experience after three attorneys – Michael Lorne, Lloyd Sheckleford and Christopher Townsend – intervened on his behalf. Each attorney told RM Pusey that Grant deserved a second chance, and also that he had learned his lesson from the current encounter on the wrong side of the justice system.

After moments debating whether Grant should experience prison, the magistrate then opted to have Grant pay a substantive fine. She ordered that he would pay $50,000 for the forgery, $5,000 for uttering the forged document and another $5,000 for attempting to obtain the second TRN.