Senior Parish Judge at the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court, Lori-Ann Cole-Montague, appeared to be in a giving mood on Tuesday when she significantly reduced the fine for two men charged for breaching the University of the West Indies, Mona campus security.

The men, Ricardo Brown and Patrick Cole, pleaded guilty to the charge.

The court was told that Cole was caught driving along a road on the university’s campus that was not permitted to the public.

During the proceedings, the judge advised the men that under this offence they can be fined up to $200,000.

Very apologetic, Cole explained that he was on the campus to use the Scotia Bank, but he made a wrong turn.

“I was [wondering] why I turned right, it was simply a lapse of concentration and upon reaching Taylor Hall, I realised my mistake. I was about to turn around when the police officer stopped me and told me to follow her to give me the summons. I am very sorry for my offence, ma’am, and I don’t know how it happened, it [has] never happened before,” Cole said.

Turning to the arresting officer, Cole-Montague asked about the man’s demeanour after he was approached.

“He was very apologetic. As he said, he was aware of the fact that he was in breach. His hand was on his head saying ‘Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the police officer said.

Handing down the sentence the judge said, “For the guilty plea, you are at $100,000. For the remorse that I am sensing from you, you are at a $50,000 reduction. For the respect that you have shown to this court, you are at $25,000. You were respectful to the officer that evening, I took off $5,000 for that. I do believe you. I do accept that you are very remorseful, so I’m going to whisper the fine. I don’t want nobody else talk ‘bout this fine; $5,000 or 10 days imprisonment, alright?”

In Brown’s case, the court was told that he was caught driving in the opposite direction along a one-way.

Brown explained that he went to visit his wife who was working at Juici Patties on the campus and during that time he became hungry. However, because he was unfamiliar with the campus he ended up driving in the wrong direction.

“It was only a short distance away that I found a canteen. So, between that short distance that I drove from Juici to where the canteen was, I told myself that instead of going around Ring Road, I would just break it to go back to where I was coming from,” Brown said.

Once again turning to the arresting officer, Cole-Montague asked about the man’s attitude during the incident.

The police officer stated that he was apologetic. However, she added that before she approached him she noticed that a vehicle was heading toward him and he was motioning the driver to get out of the way.

“The motorist was very upset because he knew he was in the right,” the police officer said.

“You know why our society is not so orderly? These seemingly little things, because the little things matter,” Cole-Montague said.

Addressing the man, she said, “Your fine [is] going to be more and it’s going to rub you a little bit.”

Aiming to explain himself, Brown said, “I know that I was in the wrong. This person was coming toward me and I had stopped where I wanted to turn. Other vehicles were coming up and because I didn’t want to create an obstacle, I was signalling to the driver [for him] to move out of the way so I could pass. I wasn’t disrespecting the occupant or anything.”

Hearing Brown’s explanation, and seemingly sympathising with him, Cole-Montague fined him$15,000 or 30 days imprisonment.