TRELAWNY, Jamaica— Sixty-eight-year-old homeless mentally ill Morris ‘Rassimong’ Small, who has been languishing in penal institutions since 2004 because he was deemed unfit to plea, was remanded in custody when he appeared in the Trelawny Parish Court today.

Morris was thrown behind bars after he was charged for malicious destruction of property, after he allegedly used a stone to smash the windscreen of a Nissan motorcar in Falmouth.

After being examined by two psychiatrists, they both concluded that he was unfit to plead.

The court is willing to release him from the Department of Correctional Services to the Falmouth infirmary, however that has become a challenge due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

Judge Ruth Lawrence, who presided over the matter today, said she is in discussions with the Trelawny Lay Magistrates Association, in an effort to find suitable housing for Small, where he would be assigned a guardian who will ensure that the intake of his medication for his mental illness is supervised.

Morris is to return to court on September 2.

Onome Sido