Two young farmers charged with burglary

Two 23-year-old farmers have been accused of reaping crops they didn’t sow, when they were charged with breaking and entering and burglary last Friday in the Serious Offences Court.

Tevin Matthews and Iran Stapleton are charged that between the dates December 6 and 8, 2017 at Glen, they entered the dwelling house of Hesron Travis Harry and stole a smart television worth US$1,135, a computer worth US$256, an amplifier valued at US$745, dozens of clothing items, a number of pairs of shoes, two gold rings, one silver bangle, three pairs of gold earrings, five cotton blankets and a number of other items, together worth an estimated US$8,598.

At first, both men pleaded not guilty to the offence, but Matthews changed his plea at the last minute and pleaded guilty.

Last Friday, the court heard the facts known about the offence as collected by the police. The owner of the house, Harry, is a sailor and was not at home at the time of the offence, but Harry’s brother, who makes checks on the house, found a number of items missing on the morning of December 9.

He first noticed that the television was missing and then noticed other items were no longer in place and that the back door was open, along with the burglar bars. The matter was reported to the police and their investigations soon led them to one Leacock, who handed over the stolen television to the police and told the police he had got the television from one Edwards of Villa. This person said he had received the items from the defendants. The police went to the home of Matthews, where Stapleton allegedly was also present. The police raided the home and found some of the stolen items. Matthews and Stapleton were arrested and charged on December 14.

In court, the arresting police officer said some clothing and the television were recovered, the jewellry, the amplifier and the computer were not.

Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne-Matthias reserved sentencing for Matthews until Christmas Eve, because of the absence of his antecedent record, but advised him to let the officers know where the other items are, if he knew where they were, before the time came for sentencing.

Bail was denied to his co-defendant Iran Stapleton by the Chief Magistrate, who stated that he had come to court recently.

She said, “This season and this time, no way. You were here recently, so forget it.”

Browne-Matthias was referring to just the week before, when she had given Stapleton a second chance, with a suspended sentence for possession of an imitation firearm.

Trial for Stapleton is set for January 8 and transferred to the Calliaqua Magistrate’s Court.(KR)