ST JAMES, Jamaica — A British man who was held with 1.5 pounds of cocaine hidden inside two pairs of slippers at the Sangster International Airport in September was spared prison time and instead fined $750,000 in the St James Parish Court on Wednesday. Glenn Mason, a 53-year-old resident of London, England, had pleaded guilty to the charges of possession of, dealing in, and attempting to export cocaine.
During her mitigation plea, Mason’s attorney Suwayne Phillips urged presiding judge Natiesha Fairclough-Hylton to consider mitigating factors such as the excellent social enquiry report and Mason’s inability to work since 1996 due to a work-related accident. “He suffered certain injuries on the job in 1996 and has been unable to work since then and has to be getting assistance from the State,” according to Phillips. Phillips also stated that Mason’s spouse, who had been providing financial assistance for his legal fees, died recently, and that other family members were currently unable to assist him.
“I also ask that you pay attention to the fact that his spouse is dead. She died one week after he pleaded guilty, and he stated that she would have been the person to assist him,” Phillips explained. “He does not receive any assistance from family members because his mother is dead and his father is elderly,” the attorney stated, further explaining that a brother who is willing to assist is unable to do so due to reliance on a pension for income.
However, dur.
