After being on remand for almost a month on a break and enter charge, a cleaner was today sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment after changing his plea to guilty.
Compton Fernandez, 47, a cleaner of Mocha, East Bank Demerara, had denied the charge which stated that, while in the company of another person, between May 20 and May 21 at Albouystown, he broke and entered the shop of Shantelle Prince and stole two gas bottles valued at $17,000 and one Samsung music set speaker valued at $96,000. The items were the property of Prince.
He was jointly charged with Latchman Sukham, 45, a driver of Albouystown.
However, when the men appeared today before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, Fernandez opted to change his not guilty plea to guilty.
Hence he was sentenced to 12 months behind bars.
According to information, on the day in question, a relative of Prince was passing at the shop when he noticed the door slightly ajar. He then made checks inside and discovered the two defendants inside the shop placing the articles mentioned in the charge inside a bag.
An alarm was then raised and both men were arrested and taken to the station and charged with the offence.
On the men’s first court appearance, Police Prosecutor Seon Blackman had objected to bail being granted to the defendants on the grounds that they were caught red-handed. He also noted the prevalence of the offence.
Sukham was further remanded to prison and was instructed to make his next court appearance on July 10.
