By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
SAPPHIRE JOHNSON, one of the 19 Britons arrested at the Sangster International Airport during a record drug bust two weeks ago, will know her fate when she faces the Montego Bay RM court on December 8.
When Johnson appeared in court on Monday she pleaded guilty to the charges of possession of, dealing in and attempting to export ganja. This is a reversal of her previous protestations of innocence.
She had checked in two grey suitcases for an Air 2,000 flight bound for London. The suitcases were searched in her presence and 44 packages with ganja wrapped in brown masking tape were found. The drug weighed a total of 88 pounds.
Johnson's mother Madria Johnson, who flew in from London to be a character witness for her daughter, tearfully told the court that her daughter's action was totally out of character since she doesn't even smoke cigarettes. "Please don't take her away," she wept. "She is my baby."
Johnson's attorney, Sandra Graham-Bright begged for leniency for her client saying that Johnson's action could be blamed on post-traumatic stress disorder since certain tragedies, including the death of her father and baby's father, had befallen her recently.
Mrs. Graham-Bright added that someone came to Johnson recently and offered her two free tickets to come to Jamaica and she accepted the offer because she thought the guy was just being nice. "She takes full responsibility for her action," Graham-Bright said. "She realised at a late stage how serious the circumstances against her were and she throws herself a the mercy of the court."
Although he gave no reason for his ruling, Resident Magis-trate for St. James, Wilson Smith, ruled that Johnson is to be sentenced on December 8.
Johnson was one of 19 Britons arrested after sniffer dogs alerted narcotics police to 37 suitcases allegedly checked-in by them for Gatwick International Airport in London. Each suitcase contained between 22 and 27 packages of ganja. The total weight of the drug was 1,722 pounds and it was estimated to worth some $17 million.
So far 15 of the Britons has already been sentenced and fined.
