Barbados Today

No matter your size, it’s against the law to carry an offensive weapon.

That was what Edward DaCosta Cumberbatch, a 52-year-old homeless man, found out in the District ‘A’ Magistrates Court today after admitting before Magistrate Douglas Frederick that he had a knife for his protection in the early hours of this morning.

The court heard from the prosecution that it was just after midnight when police on patrol at Combermere Street, the City, saw Cumberbatch.

They approached and spoke to him. However, when he began clutching his right hand tightly while holding a chamois in his left, the lawmen became suspicious. Cumberbatch swiftly then took whatever he had in his right hand, put it in his mouth and swallowed it.

When police requested a search, the homeless man insisted there was nothing inside the chamois. However, when they attempted to take it from him, he struggled with them. They eventually found a red-handle knife inside.

During a later interview with police, Cumberbatch said: “Officer, people like to unfair me because I small and I got dah knife fuh my protection.”

Magistrate Frederick placed him on a bond to keep the peace for six months. If Cumberbatch is found in breach, he will have to spend three months at HMP Dodds.