Three weeks after being slapped with a three-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to being in possession of eight grams of marijuana, a father of three is getting a shot at freedom.
27-year-old, Carl Mangal, was today granted bail in the sum of $40,000 by the High Court after Attorney Nigel Hughes picked up the man’s case and filed an appeal.
When the father of three was sentenced to three years in jail and fined $30,000 in keeping with the law, there was nationwide condemnation over the move and a call for urgent amendments to the laws that force Magistrates to hand down that sentence once an accused is found guilty.
The man was unrepresented during his Magistrates’ Court appearance and may not have truly understood the severity of the sentence that came with a guilty plea to the offense, until it was handed down.
He broke down in tears and begged the Magistrate to instead do community service, as he explained that he is a poultry farmer with three children to take care of.
The Magistrate, Judy Latchman, explained to the man that her hands were tied because of his guilty plea and she advised him to file an appeal.
Having heard of the story, Attorney Nigel Hughes got involved and filed the appeal and bail application on behalf of Mangal. With bail granted, the appeal will now move forward.
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