On September 15, the defendant was seen by the police running after another male on Peckham High Street. The officers intervened suspecting the defendant to be holding a knife. In his backpack were found a small quantity of cannabis ‘for personal use’ told the defendant to the officers and a Stanley knife.

The court decided to drop the charges on possession of a weapon against the defendant, sentencing him to 120h of unpaid community service for possession of cannabis.

Mr Dowayne Lindo, 43 years old, father to five children has been working as a handyman for 17 years. He has stable accommodation and is still financially responsible for four of his five children. He works from 5 days a week from 6 am to 1 pm.

He was described by his employers as being careful and a hard worker.

The defence counsellor argued in Camberwell Green Magistrates Court on December 4, 2019, that the Stanley knife Lindo had in his possession was a tool he used for work and that he even forgot that he still had it in his backpack. Lindo swore to the judges that in the future he would be way more careful with his work tools.

The defendant accepts responsibility for the offences of possession of weapon and cannabis but denies that he ‘reached for a knife’ whilst running after the other male (unnamed during the trial).

Lindo had already been on trial for possession of cannabis in 2018, ‘for personal use’ and had been sentenced to a fine.

He also had been on trial previously for possession of a weapon but as he was deemed ‘of good faith’ by the judges, the charges for possession of a weapon in this situation were dropped hence didn’t impact the sentence.