A High Court judge has warned that people who agree to act as sureties must fully understand the risks and potential losses that come with such commitments.
“The problem sometimes is that sureties sign without thinking about the serious consequences of having signed for their friends and he certainly could not care anything about you or your house if this is what he has done,” Justice Donna Babb-Agard told Sean Brathwaite after informing him that he would have to forfeit part of the $105 000 bond he signed on behalf of Rechaad Brian Bostic.
Bostic, formerly of Savannah Road, Bush Hall, St Michael, and 2nd Avenue, Kingsland Heights, Christ Church, is accused of having an unlicensed firearm and ammunition – a .45 ACP calibre Taurus semi-automatic pistol and 16 rounds of ammunition – on August 31, 2023.
The accused has repeatedly failed to show up in the High Court to answer those charges, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Brathwaite told the No. 4A Supreme Court that based on information he had received, Bostic, who had been his friend for over a decade, was now in Canada, but he did not know exactly where and had so far not been able to reach him.
Justice Babb-Agard then asked: “When you signed as surety on the affidavit which I have before me — that if the accused man did not turn up to court you are liable to forfeit any amount or all of this — you understood that? And you understood it when you put up your house at that value? And you knew that if he did not turn up for court you were liable to lose your house, because that is the position you find yourself in this morning?” “Yes, your Honour,” Brathwaite replied.
The surety explained that he had been comfortable signing for the accused, as Bostic’s passport had been surrendered, “but then his passport was given back to him unknowing to me and if I had known, I would have cancelled bail then and there.”
He said he had made several attempts to withdraw and had gone to the police station where Bostic had been ordered to report weekly, only to discover the accused had stopped signing in.
“I won’t take the full $105 000 from you, but be prepared to part with $25 000,” Justice Babb-Agard ruled.
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