Spanish Town

A man who was charged for breaches of the Copyright Act in 2006 but who failed to appear in court for sentencing, was on Tuesday fined $1.77 million when he appeared in the Spanish Town Resident Magistrate's Court. If the fine is not paid, Norbert Newell will have to serve two years' imprisonment at hard labour.

Newell, a 38-year-old labourer of Spanish Town, St Catherine, received the sentence from Resident Magistrate Lorna Errar after he pleaded guilty to selling bootleg DVDs. But, Newell's woes did not end there because he was sentenced to six months' hard labour for absconding bail.

59 burnt DVDs

Allegations are that in October 2006, Newell was caught at the Sagicor Shopping Centre (then LOJ) in Spanish Town with 59 burnt DVDs. Detective Corporal Kirk Roache also carried personnel from the pharmaceutical authority to prove to the court that the Chiney brush, Spanish fly, stone and other items that Newell was selling, should have been prescribed by a pharmacist. The court was told that these items should have been sold from a designated area.

He was granted bail to return to court on March 27, 2007, but failed to do so. Newell told the court that he was ill on the day and could not turn up for his sentencing, although he was found guilty.

lenient on him

In handing down her sentence, the RM told Newell that she was being lenient on him as he was only fined $30,000 for each DVD. She added that he could have been fined up to $100,000 for each under the Copyright Act.

If the fines are not paid, Newell will serve a total of two-and-a-half years' hard labour as the sentences will run consecutively.