A 23-year-old homeless man pleaded guilty yesterday to simple larceny charges and was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment after he appeared before acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
According to the prosecution, between November 17-18 at Garnett Street, the accused Sookraj Ramnarine stole items valued $130,000 from Parmeshwar Iagmohan. The man also had a quantity of beverages and bottles in his possession which he had allegedly stolen.
When given a chance to speak the man admitted that he was guilty of the first offence but he said that he did not steal the items mentioned in the second charge, adding that he had found the items in a garbage dump. The accused also told the court that he was severely beaten by the VC.
In presenting the facts prosecutor Lionel Harvey said that on the day in question the VC secured his premises and activated the security system. On the following morning the man discovered the articles missing and was prompted to view the closed circuit camera and as a result he saw the accused climbing the fence and removing the articles. The defendant later took the officers to the location where he had the items but only some of the articles were recovered. The man was subsequently detained.
The magistrate took the mitigating and aggravating circumstances into consideration in handing down the sentence.
