Hungry man sentenced to 12 months in jail

A man who told Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett that it was because he was “seriously” hungry that he grabbed a woman’s bag and ran was told that he would not have to worry about where his next meal would come from for the next 12 months.

Rodrick Martin of Mesopotamia appeared at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court last Thursday July 12 charged that on Tuesday July 10 at Arnos Vale, in the third magisterial district, he stole one black and grey Samsung smartphone valued EC$500, one brown pair of prescription glasses in a brown case valued at EC$1,500, EC$130 cash and one box of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) valued EC$17.95, items with a total value of EC$2,147.95, the property of Gloria Edwards of Cane Hall.

The court heard that Edwards was on her way from a friend’s house and bought KFC and was making her way home in the area of the Signature Restaurant and Bar when Martin tugged her bag away from her and ran into some bushes. Edwards gave chase but was unable to catch Martin and on her way to the Calliaqua Police Station, she met three men whom she told what transpired.

The men went in search of Martin and found him with Edwards’s bag with everything intact. The men are said to have roughed up Martin after which they took him to the Calliaqua Police Station where Edwards identified him.

When asked why he made the journey all the way from Mesopotamia to rob Edwards, Martin said that he did not specifically go to Arnos Vale to commit the crime, but he was hungry and just wanted something to eat.

Burnett told Martin that he too was from Mesopotamia and knew Martin’s parents, but he did not know him and that his act was a disturbing one.

When Burnett asked the court for Martin’s record, the record was unavailable, but Martin, apparently in an honest and talkative mood, decided to tell the Magistrate about his criminal history which included an offence of a similar nature.

He revealed to Magistrate Burnett that he was released from prison last May 19 after serving a five-month sentence for taking a cellular phone from an Edinboro woman and running away. Burnett sentenced Martin to 12 months imprisonment.

The Magistrate said that it was troubling to see the way some of the youth were conducting themselves.