Prison for repeated theft

Raphael Hutchins can hardly control his demons, and it is quite evident from his laundry list of criminal convictions.{{more}}

Little over a week after Senior Magistrate Donald Browne reprimanded and discharged him after he pleaded guilty at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court on August 3 to stealing two taps from Gibson’s Building Supplies, Hutchins was up to his old tricks again.

This time he did not get off with a warning. Instead, Hutchins was sentenced to three months in jail. On Monday this week, he pleaded guilty to stealing a bottle of aftershave lotion from Jax Enterprises on August 14.

When he appeared in court on the previous occasion, the 51-year-old Kingstown resident told Magistrate Browne that he would not come back to his court if he (Browne) gave him a chance. In responding to Hutchins, Browne had said it was a waste of time sending him to prison because he knew Hutchins would be back in court soon. Browne’s prediction was spot on.

The court heard that Hutchins walked into Jax Enterprises and went straight to the cosmetic section and took up the lotion. He then peeled off the price tag and placed the item in his back pocket. Under the watchful eye of the store’s security guard, Hutchins passed cashier on his way out of the store without paying for the item. The security guard grabbed him outside the store. Luckily a police officer was passing by and Hutchins was handed over to him.

“Look at you…You don’t seem to need a shave at all,” Browne stated. Hutchins then told the court that he had the money on him to pay for the lotion but just forgot about the money in his pocket.(KW)