He’s a Minister of State but that doesn’t mean he’s above the petty insults of his opponents. And that’s why the case of Edmund Castro versus Oscar Pollard Sr. went to trial today. Castro says Pollard, a contractor insulted him on April 18th at the Maskall Health Clinic. It is a petty offense which carries no jail time but it was interesting to say the least. Today both sides told their story to Magistrate Ed Usher who this afternoon convicted Pollard of insulting Edmund Castro. Keith Swift was at the courthouse.
Keith Swift,
Do you feel justice was served today?
Oscar Pollard Sr., Convicted of Insulting Edmund Castro
“No.”
That was all Oscar Pollard had to say as he left court – after being convicted for insulting Belize Rural North Area Rep. Edmund Castro. And while it ended at the courthouse – it began here at the Maskall Health Center where Castro took us in April – complaining about these woodlice ridden joists and weak concrete foundations. Pollard is the contractor for the public
building and Castro says Pollard didn’t take the criticisms positively.
Keith Swift,
I guess what he said you cannot repeat but can you give us the gist of what he said?
Hon. Edmund Castro, Belize Rural North Area Rep.
“Basically, ‘I could tek the camera and push it up whatever,’ along with some other curse words and just being very rude and insulting.”
Castro maintains it isn’t personal or political, that’s even though Oscar Pollard is an unapologetic PUP supporter and elected official.
Hon. Edmund Castro,
“I needed to have followed through with this case in order for us to prevent further problem down the road. This was not the first time that he threatened me and if we hadn’t come to court, maybe the next time he would have followed through with some of his threats.”
Keith Swift,
And while he may have insulted you, one could argue that you antagonized him by going there with your camera.
Hon. Edmund Castro,
“Not at all. As the new area representative it is my duty to tour all government projects or all schools or all institutions of higher learning within my constituency.”
Keith Swift,
Is this personal because he has told us that he is your political adversary and this is all political?
Hon. Edmund Castro,
“I don’t know if he is a politician. I know he is the Chairman of Lucky Strike. I am the area representative of Belize Rural North. I don’t go about insulting people. I don’t go around trying to make people look bad and one of the other thing too is that many of our voters were in the area and that kind of precedent, we must nip that in the bud.”
The court fined Pollard $200 plus $5 cost of court which has to be paid by the end of July.
In delivering his judgement, Magistrate Usher explained that he convicted Pollard because the police prosecutor had met the burden of proof. The first was that Castro was insulted on the compound of the health clinic which is a public place. Secondly is that it was done in the presence of others. Castro was accompanied by a camera man, Fortunato Noble who testified that he heard the insulting words. Thirdly and most importantly, Castro testified this morning that he was insulted by the words.
And as a point of reference, you might be asking how Pollard’s words could be insulting when in November of last year, City Councillor Mark King’s much stronger language to Senior Superintendent Chester Williams were not indecent. Usher touched on that in his judgement, explaining that in the Moya case, the “f” word was an adjective describing the noun PUP.
