KINGSTON, Jamaica — A man has been fined $15,000 for parking in a designated no-parking area on January 31, 2025 at the Norman Manley International Airport.

Dwayne Wilks pleaded guilty to the offence when he appeared before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on Tuesday.

In his defence, he explained, “My brother is a soldier, and he told me that he had already arrived and the people were done with him, so I was waiting on him, driving around. While I was going around, he shouted at me, called my name, Dwayne, and I looked back and reversed. I was barely on the pedestrian crossing when the officer approached me.”

He claimed the police officer approached him in an “unprofessional manner” after which he told the officer that he would not provide the necessary documents.

“He approached me and told me to go over there and give him my papers… I told him that I wasn’t going to give them to him because of how he approached me,” Wilks told Senior Parish Judge Sanchia Burrell.

Judge Burrell advised Wilks that he should have complied with the officer and, if necessary, reported the officer’s behaviour to his superior afterwards.

Wilks, who was initially ordered to pay a fine of $20,000, saw his fine being reduced to $15,000 after he pleaded with the judge, explaining that he did not have the full amount in his possession.

— Vanassa McKenzie