Sizzla fined $1,000 for expletive-laced performance at police station

Dancehall artiste, Sizzla, whose real name is Miguel Collins, was fined $1,000 for the use of expletives when he appeared at the petty session of the Falmouth Resident Magistrate's Court.

The case resulted from the artiste's delivery of an expletive-laced performance on the grounds of the New Falmouth Police Station early last Saturday morning, where hundreds were in attendance, including community leaders, some of whom are high-ranking policemen and women.

Inadequate fine

While the fine was in line with what the law allows, some who had gathered to glimpse the entertainer and hear the verdict felt the charge was woefully inadequate, given the disrespect for law and order suffered at the hands of Sizzla. They felt a message should have been sent not only to him but to the other entertainers who use profanity in their acts.

Sizzla was invited to perform, in good faith, by the police to support an outreach programme by them and coordinated by the Community Safety and Security branch, which sometimes stage entertainment packages in keeping with the country's popular culture.

The artiste opted for this kind of act which some say was a way of strengthening his resume' as an entertainer by being able to boast that he could even go into a police station and curse and nothing could be done about it.

His profanity backfired as the overwhelming majority vehemently condemned the performance.