A COUNCILLOR with the People's National Movement (PNM) last week had a charge of breaching the curfew during the State of Emergency dismissed after pleading guilty to the offence.

Jason Alexander, 30, of Trou Macaque Road, Laventille, had the matter dismissed against him by Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar, after his attorney Pennelope Beckles asked that he be reprimanded and discharged.

Beckles, in her mitigating plea, told the Chief Magistrate, Alexander was pursuing his Master's degree, while being employed at the Trinidad and Tobago Solid Waste Management Company Limited (SWMCOL) and actively involved in his community as the PNM Councillor for the St Barbs/Chinapoo area.

She said Alexander was in a level of politics very few choose to be at, recalling the days when she was a local government representative. Beckles added that Alexander has hopes of furthering his political career, and as such, a criminal record would hamper his chances of doing so.

After court prosecutor Ag Insp Ricky Lochan told the magistrate that the ball was in her court, Ayers-Caesar dismissed the matter and commended the arresting officer PC Lorenzo Lezama of the Northern Division Task Force. Lezama was awarded $500 for his conduct throughout the matter by the Chief Magistrate.

Alexander was arrested on October 28 last year in Aranjuez by officers of the North Eastern Division Task Force around 11.30 pm during the 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew. He was granted $5,000 bail when he first appeared in court.