Larceny accused offer to repay man for $135,000 chain

Two construction workers who allegedly robbed a man of a gold chain were both remanded to prison on Tuesday when they appeared before Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

Eighteen-year-old Alan Sobers of 29 West La Penitence Housing Scheme and Orston Vannooten of Lot 12 in the same community  both pleaded not guilty to the charge of simple larceny.

It is alleged that on October 15, Sobers and Vannooten stole a gold chain valued at $135,000 from Michael Payne.
Payne who was also present in court said that he would usually work at the same construction site as Sobers and  on the day in question he had taken off his chain and placed it in a plastic bag in a concrete block. He said that when he had finished his work he went back to the said concrete block and opened the bag where he discovered the chain missing. He said that soon after he raised an alarm about the theft Sobers disappeared. He  then  made a report to the police station and  when Sobers was arrested he claimed to have given the chain to Vannooten.

However Payne stated that he would not continue with the matter since Sobers and Vannooten had offered to recompense him for the chain.

The magistrate  then ordered that Sobers and Vannooten be remanded to prison until tomorrow when each of them would give Payne $67,500.