A young man will be spending the next nine months behind bars after police managed to trace a call to the phone he stole during a burglary and found him with the stolen property.
Cleveland Alleyne, 23, admitted that on October 28, at Georgetown, he broke and entered Jerome Azore’s house and stole his cellular phone and laptop, valued $9,000 and $120,000, respectively.
The facts of the case are that on the day in question, at about 7.30am, Azore secured his house and went out. Upon his return at 5.30pm, he observed one of the windows broken and subsequently discovered the phone and laptop missing.
Prosecutor Michael Grant told the court that Azore then used another cell phone he had to call the missing phone,
which was answered by Alleyne, the defendant. The court then heard that the call was later traced to a house in Sophia, where Alleyne was apprehended by police, who found him with both the phone and laptop.
When asked by the court whether he had anything to say in response to the offence he committed, the unrepresented Alleyne, who appeared visibly indifferent, shook his head.
Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, who handed down the sentence at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court One, took into consideration both the aggravating and mitigating circumstances.
Listing the aggravating factors, the magistrate noted that Alleyne is an adult and is regarded to have known the consequences of his actions, and that the offence is serious and prevalent.
In mitigation, meanwhile, the magistrate considered that Alleyne, though an adult, is to an extent still young. She acknowledged also that he pleaded guilty at the first-given opportunity, saving the court considerable time in otherwise having to conduct a trial. In addition, it was noted that the items stolen were recovered.
In those circumstances, Alleyne was sentenced to nine months in prison.
