Man says BVI prison is the best; thought it was worse

Belle Vue resident Mariano Farrington has declared in court that Her Majesty’s Prison at Balsam Ghut, British Virgin Islands, is the best correctional facility he has experienced.

He made the claim yesterday (January 30) after Magistrate Ayanna Baptiste DaBreo rejected his request for bail.

“Jail ain’t so bad like I think. That’s the best jail I ever been to. I get the same thing I get on the street in there,” Farrington exclaimed as court officers escorted him back to the holding area in the Magistrate’s Court.

According to the prosecution, Farrington currently has three matters before the court – burglary, criminal damage, and making a threat to kill.

He reportedly committed those offences last month while he was on bail in relation to other unrelated cases. His bail was subsequently revoked.

Farrington, who previously pleaded guilty to damaging a taxi driver’s vehicle windshield in August last year, was this month fined $1,000 for that offence. If he does not pay the fine by the end of May, he will serve two months in prison.

He was also ordered to pay $925 in compensation to the taxi operator whose windshield he damaged.

When the offender appeared in court yesterday, he begged the magistrate to grant him bail now that he has been fined in one of the cases.

However, Magistrate Baptiste-DaBreo denied bail, arguing that Farrington has the propensity to commit other offences if released from custody.

Farrington eventually opted to serve the default sentence instead of pay the aforementioned fine.

In other unrelated cases, he previously was also charged with offences such as threatening police, being armed with an offensive weapon, and common assault.