Liquor thief sentenced to nine months in prison

A man who broke into one liquor establishment on Bequia and attempted to break into another has been sentenced to nine months in prison.

Calvert Farrell pleaded guilty to two offences, one being burglary and another attempted burglary, when he appeared before the Calliaqua Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

The court heard that the first offence took place between the afternoon of October 26 and the morning of October 27, wherein an employee of a restaurant and bar in Port Elizabeth, Bequia returned to the establishment at around 10:15 a.m. last Friday to find evidence that there had been a break-in.

The police were called to the scene and the items which had been stolen were recorded as: one bottle of El Dorado rum, six bottles of rum punch, five bottles of White Oak rum, one Corona, one Guinness, one Hairoun, seven bottles of water and other items, amounting to a monetary total of $241.

In the process of investigating, the responding police officers checked the security cameras at the scene and Farrell was soon identified.

However, the defendant was not arrested by law enforcement until two days later, when there was a report of a burglary in progress at another liquor and provision shop in Bequia.

The same officer who responded to the previous burglary, PC Pitt, was included in the party that responded to the call. When the officers arrived at the scene, they found Farrell standing with a bare back, next to a partially open shop door.

PC Pitt, recognizing the defendant, immediately cautioned him. A search of his person revealed that he had one light bulb in his pocket, which had been removed from the socket outside the shop.

The defendant was arrested and taken to the police station at Port Elizabeth, where he admitted to the first burglary, saying, “Yes, me break the bar and remove all the things dem.”

He subsequently pleaded guilty to both offences in front of magistrate Zoila Browne and said he was very sorry and that it was his predisposition towards alcohol that caused his actions.

The magistrate was not sympathetic to the reasoning, stating that she understands he is saying his drunkenness is what causes his actions, but “that kind of addiction is not an excuse.”

She promptly sentenced him to nine months in prison for each offence, with the sentences to run concurrently.(KR)