Relatives, friends warned against sheltering gang members

Families and friends of gang members are being warned against harbouring criminals, as ministers said the practice of sheltering can have far-reaching consequences for households, communities and the wider society. The warning came during Friday’s debate in the House of Assembly on the Criminal Gangs (Prevention and Control) Bill. Attorney General Wilfred Abrahams outlined the penalties for harbouring gang members and gang leaders for sheltering. “That one causes some difficulty in the construction of it because the argument then comes in, what is sheltering? If you’re a mother putting up your child, as you are supposed to do, can you be convicted of harbouring? The law is not an ass. A person who knowingly harbours or conceals a gang leader or gang member commits an offence and is liable on conviction or indictment to imprisonment for not less than ten years, nor more than 25.” Parents and people acting in the role of parents – such as teachers – would be exempt from the sheltering charge when dealing with children, he said. Minister of Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice Michael Lashley said the offence of harbouring a gang leader, member or associate includes assisting with accommodation, food or shelter. “It makes provision for a person who ‘in loco parentis’ [in the place of parents] that they might have a mitigating factor. There’s a difference between a mother and a child or relatives, and that’s the thing that is different from an ordinary person or an associate or a person who knows full well that this person is involved in criminal activity.” Public education would be rolled out to ensure Barbadians understand the offence, Lashley pledged. “It is an obstruction to justice. It is a showing of contempt for the important stakeholders in the fight against crime and the hard work they’re doing. It is a very serious penalty attached to the offence of harbouring, and I said to my ministry that we might have to do some serious public education because somebody might believe that it’s not an offence.” Minister of Labour Colin Jordan also highlighted the impact that harbouring criminals can have on families: “If they are perpetrators, then the families of those perpetrators are also in danger, are also destabilised. But a family that is harbouring is a family on edge. Every siren. Every rev of a vehicle causes a reaction. So that while the victim, and the victim is the one that I think we should probably be more concerned about, and I would agree with that, but there are relatives and in some cases, innocent relatives of the perpetrator who are also being negatively impacted.” Jordan said criminal activity affects entire households: “Breadwinners are taken away either by injury, by death, by incarceration. Apart from families, communities are impacted, and there are times when communities are stained because of the bad behaviour of a few.” He pointed to fear among residents, reduced social activity and concerns for children’s safety: “Sometimes there are those who employ based on the address; they may make a decision one way or another, so communities are impacted. Communities are stained. Communities are also impacted when little children are not sure if to go outside. When parents are not sure if to leave their children outside. Communities are impacted when there are community gatherings, and those in the community are not sure about what will happen. It used to be after dark, but now it could be even during daylight hours. Communities are impacted; social activity in communities is impacted.” Jordan also warned that criminal groups can destabilise state institutions, identifying educational, legal and health institutions as particularly vulnerable. “There are times when those who are at the hospital, when there is an emergency, if I may use that term, there are people who are in pain who have to wait until a stab victim or a gunshot victim is addressed. There are also people there who are there to visit relatives who have to stand back, look around, who are fearful in the institution.” He said criminal activity can undermine the functioning of healthcare facilities. “Sometimes, if a person who is supposed to be taken out, has only been injured, there is sometimes the feeling that somebody will turn up at the healthcare institution to finish the job, a place where people go when they are ill, when they are sick, needing care.” Jordan also referred to incidents in which utility workers carrying out repairs were attacked by groups of people intent on stealing, warning that unchecked criminal activity threatens the country’s ability to function safely. Lashley maintained that the proposed legislation seeks to balance transparency, fairness and accountability. “When we speak about transparency and fairness and accountability, it is in this bill.”   (LG) The post Relatives, friends warned against sheltering gang members appeared first on Barbados Today.