$200,000 fine for theft, forgery of driver’s licence

A man was fined $200,000 with an alternative of serving three consecutive jail sentences when he pleaded guilty to charges of theft, intent to defraud and forgery in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Donald Baird of 22 Hardina Street, Wortmanville was charged with the theft of a driver’s licence, number 793124, which occurred on March 12. According to the charges, he also intended to commit fraud by forging the said licence and uttering a forged document, which he knew to be false, to police officer Sean Leitch.
Baird told Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle in court yesterday that he was going through a hard time and “things were brown” with him and that was why he stole the driver’s licence belonging to Clairmont Cato to work for a few days.
Baird said that he was left to clean Cato’s mini-bus and took the licence out of the pocket next to the front seat. He replaced the original picture with one of his and used a pen to fake the stamp that is usually on the picture.

Baird begged the magistrate to be lenient with him saying he was telling the truth about everything that happened.

He was fined $85,000 each or two years’ imprisonment on the intent to defraud and uttering forged document charges; while a fine of $30,000 or 18 months imprisonment was meted out for the theft charge. All of the sentences run consecutively.