Port Kaituma man on bail after denying car theft

A Port Kaituma man was yesterday released on $100,000 bail after denying that he stole a car that was being rented by a policeman.

Lennox Jones Jnr pleaded not guilty to a charge of simple larceny that was read to him at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.

According to the charge, Jones, 35, stole a Toyota Allion motorcar from Middle Street on November 21, 2011. The car, the property of Esther Knight, is valued at $2.7 million.

According to Prosecutor Michael Grant, Knight owned the car, licensed as HB 9280, and was renting the vehicle to a police constable for two days.

On November 21, 2011 at about 09:30 hrs, the officer parked the vehicle on Middle Street and secured it. Upon returning at about 12:30 hrs, he discovered the vehicle was missing and reported the theft.

On January 31, 2014, Jones was seen driving the car in Port Kaituma. However, instead of its HB 9280 license plate, the car was identified as PMM 5738. Checks were made at customs and the new licenc e plates were confirmed as false.

Initially, Jones was remanded to prison as no bail application was made for him. It was only later that Jones’ attorney, Mark Waldron, made an appearance for his client. According to Waldron, Jones had been in Port Kaituma at the time of the theft and could not have possibly committed the crime. He added that the vehicle had been purchased by Jones, who had been informed by his sister in Georgetown that the vehicle was on sale. The sister facilitated the purchase of the car while Jones received the car in Port Kaituma, Waldron said. Waldron emphasised that although a prima facie case may be developed for a receiving of stolen property charge, his client should not be charged with simple larceny.

The matter was stood down until it could be confirmed with police ranks in the North-West District that Jones had indeed been in the region at the time of the theft. A few hours later, Prosecutor Grant shared with the court that Jones had been in Port Kaituma.

Following this revelation, Jones was granted bail by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry in the sum of $100,000. He will make his next appearance in court on February 21 for reports and fixtures.