An elderly man who stole five bags of pigtail from Coreas Distribution Limited was lucky to avoid jail time yesterday, September 8.

Elias Lawrence of Questelles was charged that on September 7, at Lower Bay Street he stole five bags of pigtail equivalent to 3.42 lbs valued at $38.13 from Coreas Distribution Food Market at Lower Bay Street, Kingstown.

When the defendant appeared in the Serious Offences Court on September 8, he pleaded guilty to the charge of theft.

The virtual complainant, a security guard, saw the defendant enter the food mart at approximately 5:00 p.m. He observed the defendant pick up a handful of the pigtails and place them in a black plastic bag.

While keeping close observation, the security guard reported the incident to another employee and as Lawrence walked past the cashier, the security asked the defendant to allow his bag to be searched The bags of pigtails were then discovered, and the police was summoned.

During mitigation, counsel, Jomo Thomas told the court that he has known the defendant for many years and he is a very sickly man and has committed only minor offences in the past. Therefore, he asked the court to be merciful and give him a sentence that would deter him from such acts but not result in him being incarcerated, as he is also unemployed.

Chief Magistrate, Rechanne Browne in her judgement said that the defendant will be required to pay compensation of $38.13 for the pigtail or spend two weeks in prison.

She also placed Lawrence on a six month bond; if he breaks this bond he will be required to pay $1000 or spend six months in prison.

Thomas told the court that he will pay the compensation to prevent the unemployed senior citizen from spending two weeks in prison.