Six months jail for phone thief

A man was on Tuesday sentenced to six months imprisonment for the theft of a cellular phone.

Appearing before Magistrate Hazel Octave- Hamilton, George Chase admitted that he stole the phone, valued $35,000, which was the property of Roney Thelemaque.

He committed the offence on May 9, at Longden and Croal streets, Georgetown.

Police Sergeant Lionel Harvey said Thelemaque was in his minibus, parked at Croal and Longden streets, when Chase approached and removed the phone from the dashboard.

Thelemaque, who later noticed that the phone was missing, reported the matter to the Brickdam police station and Chase was subsequently arrested. Harvey further stated that the accused returned the two sim cards which were in the phone, instead of the stolen phone.

Chase, however, said he got the phone from a friend. He added that Thelemaque indicated to him while he was at the police station that he needed to return the sim cards, since they contained important information. “I told the police if they can go with me to the guy who gave me the phone, instead they released me and said that I must return the two sim cards and memory card,” he said, adding that “I went and get back the sim cards as the police instructed.”

Later, Chase said he would repay Thelemaque for the phone. The magistrate took into consideration that the accused pleaded guilty to the offence when handing down the six-month sentence.