Guilty: Guyanese to spend 9 months in prison for conspiracy to personate
Guyanese national Lolita Callender-Skelton wept uncontrollably in the Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday after she was sentenced to nine months at Her Majesty’s Prison for conspiracy to personate.
Following the conclusion of the woman’s three-day trial, Magistrate Ayanna Baptiste-DaBreo said she weighed the evidence and found the 28-year old makeup artist guilty of soliciting a man to obtain an HIV test in her (Callender-Skelton’s) name.
The court ordered that her nine-month sentence take effect from the day that she was first placed on remand.
In handing down the sentence, the magistrate overruled what is known as a no-case submission from Callender-Skelton’s attorney.
Effectively, a no-case submission is an argument that there was no evidence or insufficient legal grounds to show that Callender-Skelton is liable for the offence for which she is accused.
The magistrate, however, said: “It is not the court’s business why [Callendar-Skelton committed the offence]. However, the Crown has, beyond a reasonable doubt, proved its case, and the court finds her guilty.”
The Crown called a total of six witnesses — four civilians and two police officers.
The civilian witnesses testified that they encountered Callender-Skelton at Peebles Hospital and at Medicure Laboratory on the days in question. On the other hand, the police witnesses spoke of their investigation which included CCTV footage.
However, after the Crown closed its case, Callender-Skelton chose to remain silent and opted to not testify in her defence or to call witnesses to testify on her behalf.
What the court heard happened
The court heard that Callender-Skelton arrived in the territory on April 20 and was granted permission to remain for 30 days.
Upon her arrival, she met and reportedly had a conversation with a man named ‘Eric’. It is said that he agreed to assist her in getting an HIV test.
On April 24, the duo reportedly attended Peebles Hospital’s laboratory, and Eric identified himself as Lolita.
The court heard that the lab technician on duty asked the young man: “Are you sure that’s your name? Your mother named you Lolita?”
Eric reportedly took a blood type test using the name Lolita Callender; however, it was not the test that they wanted.
When they inquired about performing an HIV test, the lab technician informed them that this test required identification and a doctor’s referral. It was then that the duo inquired of other places on the island that they could perform the said test.
After receiving directions from the lab technician, they went to the Medicure Laboratory to perform the test which did not require any form of identification using the name ‘Lolita Callender’.
When the lab technician requested personal information from Eric such as his date of birth and his telephone number, it was Callender-Skelton who provided the information, the court further heard.
When the test was done, the pair returned to the lab for the results, the court heard.
When the receptionist on duty proceeded to stamp the results of the test, the Guyanese woman interrupted her and asked to see the document before it was stamped.
The court heard that after reviewing it, the accused asked that the gender be changed from male to female. The receptionist then asked if the results were hers, and she responded ‘yes’.
The court further heard that receptionist then took the results to be signed by the technician.
The two then took the results, the court heard, but before leaving the medical facility, Eric reportedly asked laboratory employees: “Why can’t a man be named Lolita?”
The court heard that the Callender-Skelton then posted the results on social media site, Facebook.
The matter was subsequently reported to the police who launched an investigation.
Callendar-Skelton was later met at the Road Town ferry dock where she was arrested.
During the police interview, she said she was being bullied on social media and after hearing of her dilemma, Eric decided to assist her to take the test using her name and his blood.
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How did she ever think she could get away with something like that. My goodness, no where in the world no one can get away with trying to do something like that.
What are you really saying? She did get away with it! If the moo moo didn’t post the results on social media thereby getting the attention of so many people, she would still be on facebook all now acting like she is Beyonce or Rhiana. Common sense isn’t so common after all, she is such a f–l. 9 months up the hill and for what? To prove a point on social media where everyone is fake anyway?
You can get away with anything in the BVI. She was just not so lucky this time.
That is why everyone come to the BVI to do their dirt because they know they can get away with it or the law is soft on them. 9 months. They better put her A** on the plane back to her homeland when she step out of jail.
Guyanese. the make sure that`s in the head line.
Even though she marry a (local)and have rights…you just had to say guyanese
Enjoy your stay up the hill BO. Maybe where you are from you could get away with the S**t,not here. Shame on you. You are going to get free medical on the hill,let them run the test.
So is she hiv positive ? ?
What does it matter? Know your status and protect yourself.
It does matter you fool
If she wasn’t, why would she use someone else blood? Sounds like something to hide.
Wtf is conspiracy to personate? If that is a crime, Madea better not come to BVI. Did she defraud or attempt to defraud the government, which would then be a recognisable public crime. Or did she defraud or attempt to defraud an individual, which would make it a recognisable private, civil matter.
BVI Criminal Code Part XVI (Redacted)
262. (1) Any person who utters any document which has been issued by any lawful authority to
another person to be entitled to any right or privilege or to enjoy any
rank or status, and falsely represents himself to be the person named in the document, commits an
offence of the same kind and is liable on conviction to the same punishment as if he had forged the
document.
And what document is it that she forged? Is she herself a document? Eric presented himself as Lolita. Eric said that his name is Lolita. Where was a document forged? And how is forgery Equivalent to conspiracy to personae or whatever tf that is…
MADEA WOULD HAVE BEEN SMARTER AND TOOK A WOMAN WITH HER INSTEAD OF A MAN.
Where is Eric. He should be on the same trip.
Where is Eric, he should be going to jail for simply being stupid.Kudos to the lab tech for asking him the questions that she did.
This mysterious Eric was in on it also, I don’t think anyone would agree to do something that stupid for anyone after Just meeting them. Now the people from Guyana is going to get the famous BVI side looks.
All wh0r3s must pay the price. Both man and woman.
Four days in a Country that allow you a 30 day stay and you running scams. She is one of those people that is making it hard for her other Country men that is trying to come to Tortola.
I hope the guys in jail with Internet access keeping up with the news because when she touch down they might think the food good and get fish poison.
What she did was devious. She cannot be be trusted at all.
I would not trust her to clean my cat litter box. She might try to steal the cat DNA. Of course what she did was devious. She was putting others in danger with the cover up.That d**n Eric needs to be locked up for aiding and abeding.
No use in crying a river gal, you out played and out smart yourself.
Girl stop the crying, you will get back to your roti, curry eggs and curry shark soon enough.
There is enough people walking around here with HIV and other STD’s on the DL, …
Let us remember our compassion and foregiveness, nine months is a very long sentence and entirely life changing for someone: she will probably never be able to get a good job with that on her record, and she is still quite young, with her life ahead of her. I am not sure the offence merits the harsh sentence. Yes this lady is obviously very stupid, but I am not sure she is devious. She just wanted to stop people cyber bullying her. Had she actually infected someone with HIV (who had relied on the Facebook-published test results) then there would be a victim here. But there is no victim, no actual harm was done.
The cost of imprisoning her will be expensive for the BVI. Surely 14 days in jail and a deportation home will send a clear enough message (assuming this was her first offence and she was otherwise of good character). I worry that this lady’s lawyer did a poor job of defending her and that this is something of a miscarriage of justice. We should forgive her, but also make sure she never returns to BVI. Eric should also be similarly punished for his role in all of this.
Matthew 6: 14-15 “For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
how in modern times can a lab take peoples’ blood to do a serious test without proper photo I.D?Absolute recklessness!
Exactly. No ID, false or otherwise, was presented, so how is it forgery… And since when conspiracy in itself is a crime… Its an inchoate offence which means to must be paired with an actual criminal offence, isn’t it? I still wanna know wtf is personate….
Eric is the one that should be charged whoever he or she is ..is the one that used lolita name to do a blood test so it is eric that impersonate not lola.
She was with Eric at all locations when they tried to deceive so yes, the conspiracy charge is correct. Think about it!
In April we let into the territory someone who, in the previous year, was arrested for harbouring a murder suspect fugitive and was also arrested for assault. A simple search of Google reveals this. Can we get Google at the ports at minimum??
https://newssourcegy.com/news/us-murder-fugitive-and-local-mua-arrested-in-early-morning-operation/
She’s bad news
who is the local husband?
Eric right there on the CCTV footage