A MAN who is a first time offender, allowed his sticky fingers to result in him being charged with stealing goods from his previous work place.

Lesroy Quashie, a 29 year old resident of Stubbs appeared in the Kingstown Magistrate Court (KMC) to answer a charge of theft. The man was charged that between July 28 and August 25, 2022 at Arnos vale, he stole a number of items valued at $7,972.99 the property of Island Style Interiors at of Arnos Vale.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.

The facts, as read by the prosecutor, the supervisor of the establishment charged with carrying out day to day operations of the establishment was making checks for a Rubi Cement Mixer that was in a store room. She discovered that the item was missing and reported it to the police, after which, an investigation was carried out.The defendant who was employed at the establishment was terminated sometime around September 10.

Acting on the information received, a search warrant was executed on the defendant’s home and during the search, the Rubi Cement mixer was found along with a quantity of other items and Rubi brand tools. At this stage, the defendant was cautioned and he was arrested on suspicion. The supervisor was called in and she identified the items as belonging to Island Style Interiors. All the items were retrieved and the defendant was later charged for the offence of theft.

During plead mitigation, the defendant’s lawyer, Charmine Walters asked the court for a non- custodial sentence for her client as he was able to find another job, has no previous convictions and therefore kept a clean record until that charge. The lawyer also said that the defendant is being morally supported by some members of his family who were present during the court proceedings. She said that he could be guided back onto the right path.

The defendant apologized to the establishment while in court and said to the virtual complainant: “Sorry for disrespecting Island Style Interiors.”

Senior Magistrate, Rickie Burnett responding to the prosecutor said “You don’t want him to feel that he did not do anything wrong. He was employed by a business place and that business place was paying him his salary and they trusted him. He broke the trust of the organization and it appears as though it was done over a period of time.”

Going to the defendants credit, the magistrate highlighted that it was his first offence, he pled guilty, showed a level of remorse and all of the stolen items were retrieved.

The senior magistrate placed the defendant on a one year bond in the sum of $3000. If breached he will be required to pay the $3000 forthwith or go to prison for five months.

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