During Smith's last appearance on Wednesday, the court was told that the accused had bought his passport from a man who sells fraudulent passports, and was willing to work with the police in apprehending this man.

On Friday, attorney Winston Douglas asked Resident Magistrate (RM) Vivienne Harris not to impose a custodial sentence on his client. He presented Smith as a hard-working family man who had never been charged for any other offence.

But the judge expressed concern that Smith had been arrested for a similar offence in February, and that he had not sought a passport through legal channels.

Subsequently, Smith was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, with a 12-month supervision order to be enforced.

"You realise things have tightened up a bit at the airports in Jamaica; you have to apply for a passport at the embassy in Kingston, so you knew what you were doing," RM Harris scolded Smith as she handed down her ruling.

On August 27, Smith attempted to board a flight destined for London at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. While there, he presented a Canadian passport under the name Christian Rooney.

However, checks revealed several irregularities with the passport, including the Jamaican landing stamp being forged and the immigration stamp being obscured. Following this discovery, Smith was arrested and charged.