Saturday, February 7 2004

A 20-year-old UWI student was yesterday fined $1,000, half of which was to be paid forthwith, or, in default, serve a prison term of two months with hard labour. 

Davy Sam, of Dookie Street, St Augustine, pleaded guilty to a charge of wasteful employment of police time when she appeared before Magistrate Joanne Connor at the Tunapuna Magis-trates’ Court. The student had filed a report at the Tunapuna Police Station earlier this week, claiming that she had been kidnapped and gang-raped. According to Sam’s report, she had been abducted by three men on Monday when she was walking through the tunnel under the Priority Bus Route in the vicinity of the university. The kidnappers, Sam said, had blindfolded her and imprisoned her at a house on Tunapuna Road. She claimed she was released on Tuesday.     

However, it was reported that investigations later revealed that Sam had fabricated the story. She had allegedly stolen money from her parents on Monday to buy a cell phone. Knowing that her parents would be angry, she had packed some articles of clothing and had spent the night at a friend’s home. The next day she had made the report to the police. She was charged by Cpl Moona of the Tunapuna CID.