Kindness from the prison dock - Lady pays court fee for fellow accused

In a show of empathy towards a single mother, an accused woman yesterday dipped into her pocket, while in the prisoners' dock, and paid the fees for a woman who did not have the $1,000 that the judge ordered her to pay.

The single mother, Vanessa, found herself before the court after she destroyed another woman's plastic washing bath during a dispute on May 23.

Following mediation in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court yesterday, Vanessa was ordered to pay the complainant $1,000 as compensation. However, she told the judge that she did not have the money to pay.

It was then that another accused woman, who was sitting in the dock waiting for her matter to be called up, volunteered to pay the money.

"Can I pay it?," she asked a policeman who was in the court. The cop, in turn, indicated the woman's intention to the clerk of court.

"Your Honour, it seems the matter will be disposed of today as someone will be paying the $1,000," the clerk said.

When the money was paid over, a thankful Vanessa raised her head to the heavens, seemingly to hold back tears of gratitude.

She was then discharged from the court.

"You are free to go," said Parish Judge Venise Blackstock-Murray to the defendant, who hastily thanked the judge for her leniency and the woman who came to her rescue for her generosity.