Christopher Thomas, STAR Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

A grandfather and his two grandsons who were responsible for a brawl at the Cambridge Resident Magistrate's Court in St James, were fined when they appeared in court on Thursday.

Octavius Brown, 67; Omar Walker, 30-year-old mechanic and Damion Brown, 23, electrical engineer, all from St James were convicted in the Montego Bay RM Court. They were fined a combined total of $16,000 or 30 days' imprisonment for offences committed following a case in the Cambridge RM Court on April 13.

The grandfather, 67-year-old Octavius Brown, was convicted for disorderly conduct, assaulting a policeman and obstructing a policeman in the line of duty. He was fined $2,000 on each count or 30 days in jail.

Walker was convicted for disorderly conduct, assaulting a policeman and resisting arrest, and was fined a total of $6,000 -- $2,000 on each count.

Damion Brown, the younger of the two grandsons, was convicted for assaulting a policeman and resisting arrest. His conviction attracted a fine of $4,000 - $2,000 on each court.

The charges stemmed from an incident on April 13 when the two grandsons appeared before the Cambridge RM Court and were both convicted on malicious destruction of property charges

Following their sentencing, the two grandsons began behaving boisterously and disrupted the court proceedings. They had to be restrained.

While being escorted to their cell, the senior Brown, who was standing outside the courtroom, confronted the officer who was escorting his grandsons and accused him of assaulting them.

"Me see you a beat dem up, let dem go," the grandfather reportedly said.

On Thursday, defence lawyer Charles Johnson apologised to Resident Magistrate Sandria Wong-Small for the men's behaviour at the Cambridge court.

"I'm really going to ask you to be lenient with them. They are remorseful and have nothing against the court," Johnson told the judge. "They've learned a whole lot, and they're not really bad persons, as you've seen."

However, RM Wong-Small scoffed at the apology, declaring that the courtroom and its authority must be respected at all times.

"It's one thing I insist on, that the courtroom will be respected,' Wong-Small said sternly. "We have reached a stage where people feel that they can do anything they feel like, anywhere they feel like; but it will not happen in the courtroom."