$110,000 bail for man accused of stealing tape deck

Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson granted a father of three $110,000 bail when he appeared to answer to charges that he had broken into a vehicle through the windscreen and stolen the CD tape deck.

Thirty-four-year-old Fitzroy Holligan of Howes Street, Charlestown pleaded not guilty to the charges of malicious damage to property and simple larceny when he on Tuesday appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

It is alleged that on April 11, Holligan maliciously damaged Gregory Nedd’s windscreen and stole his CD tape deck, to the total value of $380,000.

In his submission, Holligan’s attorney Vic Puran said that on the day in question his client and Nedd were playing football and he had accidentally broken the windscreen of the vehicle that was parked nearby. He said his client had already recompensed Nedd with $220,000 which is the cost of the windscreen. Puran said his client did not steal the tape deck and that the prosecution only added that charge against his client to make the case sound more serious than it actually is. He then applied for reasonable bail for his client.

However, Police Prosecutor Munilall Seetaram told the court that on the day in question Nedd had parked his vehicle and was exercising in the National Park when he saw Holligan approach his vehicle, break the windscreen and steal the tape deck. He said that Holligan then ran to his car and drove away.

Holligan was ordered to return to court on May 6.