TED Prince, the convicted Klansman gangster who shocked Chief Justice Bryan Sykes and others, including his fellow gang members, when he urinated inside a courtroom at the Home Circuit Court in Kingston on February 28, was on Friday sentenced to 60 days in prison for contempt.

The sentence may mean very little to Prince, whose alias is Mawga Man, as he is already serving a prison term for illegal possession of firearm. The six-month sentence will run concurrent with the one he is already serving for the illegal gun.

According to Justice Sykes, Prince’s actions weren’t the most egregious, however he had to teach him and others with similar intentions that the court is strict in these cases.

“In the scheme of things, as distressing as it was and inappropriate as it was, there have been worst [instances of unacceptable] conduct in the face of the court. It is not considered to be the most egregious, inappropriate as it was. Under the circumstances here, an appropriate sentence is 60 days to indicate to you and other people that things like this are taken very seriously, and to deter others who may be a similar disposition. We encourage them to use their words to the police under similar circumstances.

“For these types of offences it can be a term of imprisonment, a fine, or both. Since you are where you are for the last two years, a fine wouldn’t make sense under these circumstances [as] you would have to rely on somebody else to pay for the crime. It is going to be a term of imprisonment and it is going to run concurrently with the sentence you are already serving,” Sykes said, highlighting too that Prince had shown remorse after his actions.

Justice Sykes read a social inquiry report on Prince, which he had requested, and it had the gang member’s parents painting him as someone who follows the crowd.

“The report captures your remorse, subsequent to the embarrassment. You are now 30 years old. They are recommending that you become certified in a skill in an area of choice. It speaks to the need for you to develop decision-making skills because of the choices made, and to minimise criminal urges. Regarding your risk of harm, you are considered low-risk to society, children, adults and yourself. The antecedent report from the police gives us information on the schools you attended and the efforts to acquire a skill at Children First School where you did videography and barbering.

“You worked on construction sites after leaving Children First. At some point you began working with your father, engaged in shoemaking and repairing. You have no children. You were the beneficiary of your parents’ strenuous efforts to provide for you as best they could in the circumstances in which they found themselves. It is being suggested here that your parents were warning you against the associations that you had. You yourself have accepted that you didn’t always agree with your parents’ instructions,” said Justice Sykes.

“They communicated that you lost two older brothers to violence and your father seems to be suggesting that, despite his best efforts, you seem to be unable to resist the attraction of wrongdoing. As far as the community report is concerned the reports say that you are a very good person who gets along well with persons and is from a decent home. Some persons apparently didn’t provide the probation officer with the feedback they were expecting,” he added.

Prince, along with 14 other gangsters including Andre “Blackman” Bryan — the leader of one of two factions of the notorious Spanish Town-based Klansman gang — were convicted on several charges including murder and being members of a criminal organisation. They are to be sentenced on July 3 this year.