Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson remanded to prison a father of five accused of stealing two cellular phones.

Richard Craigan, 27, of 66 Broad Street, Charlestown, pleaded not guilty to the charge of simple larceny when he appeared on Monday in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

It is alleged that on January 4, Craigan stole two cell phones valued $85,000 from Rodwell Phillips.

Craigan’s attorney Hukumchand told the court that his client was arrested on Thursday and that he had been promised that the man would have been released on $10,000 bail.

He said the police only told him on Saturday that Craigan would not be released and that it was unlawful for them to have kept his client in custody for over 72 hours without charging him, unless granted that privilege by a High Court judge.

He then applied for bail on the grounds that Craigan does not pose a flight risk and that he has been “subjected to a malicious prosecution.” Hukumchand told the court that the case involved credit allegedly sent to someone’s cell phone from a phone that was allegedly stolen. He also noted that none of the phones had been recovered.

Meanwhile, Prosecutor Denise Griffith objected to bail on the grounds that Craigan had committed the offence while he was on bail for six similar charges.
Craigan was ordered to appear in Court Two on January 19.