Barrouallie teenager ruins wedding plans by burglarising home

A Barrouallie teenager who “crushed” a man’s wedding plans by breaking into his home and stealing the money he had saved up for his wedding, was given a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay compensation.

Jonathan Browne, 18, appeared at the Serious Offences Court before Senior Magistrate, Tammika McKenzie on May 17, 2024, where he pleaded guilty that on May 11, 2024, at

Keartons Hill, Barrouallie, he entered the dwelling house of Jeremiah Chambers and stole two black and white touch screen watches valued EC$100; one gold bracelet valued

EC$40; one gold chain valued EC$60; one black and yellow Gucci belt valued $100; and two plastic savers containing an unknown amount of cash.

The facts read that about 2:00 p.m on the date in question, Chambers was getting ready to attend a funeral service when he went into his suitcase for his Gucci belt to wear and observed that it was missing, along with the other listed items.

Prior to this Chambers had made checks and discovered that one saver was missing, and an unknown amount of cash was taken from the other.

Chambers questioned his girlfriend about the missing items, but she had no idea about them being missing. The front door of Chambers’ house is unable to be locked so he speculated that someone may have entered his house and remove his belongings.

As he had not given anyone permission to enter his house and remove anything, Chambers reported the matter at the Barrouallie Police Station.

The police visited his home and recorded a statement from Chambers, who said he suspected that it was Jonathan Browne of Barrouallie who had stolen his belongings.

Investigations were carried out and a witness statement was recorded from Jeffrey Alexander of Barrouallie, who told the police that Browne had sold him a belt.

On Thursday May 16, 2024, at about 6:20 a.m, the police met Browne and took him to the station where PC33 John cautioned and interviewed him in the presence of CPL832 Spencer.

Browne admitted to the offence, saying that he only took the belt and the watch because he was hungry.

PC33 John later arrested and charged Browne for the offence of burglary.

Last Thursday May 30, 2024, Chambers appeared before the court and gave a victim impact statement.

Chambers told the court that he is frustrated because of the incident as the items were brand new. He said he had bought the watches for his son, who did not have the opportunity to wear them.

Chambers questioned the possibility that the outcome could have been different if Browne had met his girlfriend at home. He also said that if he was at home, Browne could have killed him or the other way around.

He said his girlfriend is now afraid to stay home alone, and added that the money in the savers was intended to be used to wed his girlfriend.

“You shattered the people’s dreams,” the Senior Magistrate told Browne.

“Why couldn’t he ask me for something to eat instead of breaking into my house,” Chambers questioned.

Chambers further told the court that the matter at hand is not so much about the money; it is about the intentions he had for the money. He said that he had planned to propose to his girlfriend on the day after he realized his money was missing. That day would have been Mother’s Day.

Chambers said that he deposited “every little money I had” over the past three years into the plastic savers.

“I hope he learns from this and makes wiser decisions,” Chambers added.

He asked the court to be compensated EC$3000 for the money and items that were stolen.

Browne apologized to Chambers and told the court that he had in fact learnt from his actions.

He asked the court “to have mercy on me because it is my first accusation”.

Browne said that he is not “a thief man” but he was “desperate.”

When sentencing, the Senior Magistrate considered that Browne assisted the authorities; had pleaded guilty; but attempted to conceal his crime by disposing of the belt. She also considered that the belt and one watch were retrieved.

McKenzie further considered that Browne had no previous convictions and had shown remorse for his actions. The accused was given a discount from his sentence due to his age.

The Senior Magistrate then sentenced Browne to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years. She also ordered him to compensate Chambers in the amount of $4,500 to be paid in one year, in default of which he will be imprisoned for one year.