THE LEAD STORY in yesterday's STAR reported attempts by the court to clamp down on illegal 'bailers.'
According to the story, people have been approaching relatives of incarcerated persons and collecting money to bail them. The story also reported a recent case involving a man who had collected $19,000 from a woman to bail her son. The man failed to follow through with his promises and the son was never bailed.
The story further said that the court had a serious problem with the 'bailers', as they often provided false information that could not assist the court if it needed to find the accused person later, especially if he or she ran off.
One must applaud the court for taking steps to reduce the number of persons who have been attempting to violate the bail act. People need to recognise that the issue of bail is a serious thing.
We are the same people who complain that crime is too high, yet when persons are brought before the court to answer to charges, we post bail using fraudulent means and then suffer the consequences, directly or indirectly, when the accused cannot be found.
While one can understand why some relatives feel they must do anything possible to get their relatives out of jail, they should follow the legal route. When they use illegal methods it affects legitimate persons posting bail.
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