A labourer was yesterday jailed for two years for attempting to break into the mess hall of the Brickdam Police Station.
Leon Farrier, 34, of John and Leopold streets, admitted to a charge that between March 5 and March 6, at the Brickdam Police Station, in Georgetown, he attempted to break into the mess hall.Farrier also admitted that earlier, on February 23, he collected $500 from a constable to purchase a phone card for him but instead converted the money to his own use.
Police Prosecutor Deniro Jones told city magistrate Ann McLennan that the police station mess hall was secured at about 8pm on March 5. However, at 12:20am on March 6, ranks on duty, acting on information, went to the back of the mess hall and saw Farrier climbing on a pipe that leads to the canteen. Jones said checks were made and a wooden bar that secured a window was found to have been removed. Farrier was arrested and cautioned and according to Jones he admitted to the failed break-in.
Meanwhile, the court also heard from Jones that on February 23, Farrier was given $500 by a Constable Hodge, who was on duty at the Brickdam Police Station, to purchase a pre-paid cellphone card. However, Jones said, Farrier never returned with the card. The prosecutor told the court that the defendant was apprehended on February 26, and told of the offence. He added that the defendant never repaid Hodge.
Farrier, when asked to defend himself, told Magistrate McLennan that while he was wrong for trying to rob the police, he disapproved of the severe beating that he received at the hand of the Constable and an unnamed Inspector of Police, at the Brickdam Police Station, after he failed to return Hodge’s money. “I get seven cuff to chest,” he alleged, before adding, “I ain’t eat nothing since they lock me up.”
The magistrate asked Farrier why he returned to break into the mess hall after he allegedly received the sound thrashing. The man just shook his head and remained silent.
Magistrate McLennan lectured Farrier on how disrespectful and grave his actions were before sentencing him for the burglary and fining him $25,000 with an alternative of four weeks imprisonment for fraudulent conversion. In the event he fails to pay the fine, both sentences are to be served concurrently.
