Serial burglar locked away for 8 months

A Mesopotamia man known to be a serial burglar has been convicted for two recent burglaries including one in which the homeowner was hospitalized at the time of the crime.

Ronald/Christopher Dasent received his first charge last Monday, September 16, for breaking into the dwelling house of Elford Duncan on September 13, in Paul Over, and stealing a United States Passport, as well as two Vincentian passports.

Dasent also pleaded guilty to carrying 288g of cannabis in his possession on the same date in Sion Hill.

The Mesopotamia resident broke into the house during the time that the owner, Duncan, was warded at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH). The complainant, McAnthony Kirby, discovered the burglary when he went to Duncan’s house. Kirby met the door open and made checks about the house, before finding the bedroom ransacked. He noted that the passports belonging to Duncan were missing.

Meanwhile, the Narcotics Unit was patrolling, and a member of their party, PC843 King, saw the defendant at an intersection at Sion Hill. She knew that Dasent was wanted by the police for a series of burglaries and indicated this to the driver so that the transport stopped. The police approached their suspect, and unluckily for Dasent, he was also carrying 288g of illegal Marijuana, which was discovered during a search.

He also had the passports on him when he was taken to the Criminal Investigations Department(CID) and therefore was able to be connected to the burglary.

PC843 King was commended by both Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne, and the Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche, for her competency in handling the matter despite her youth.

Dasent claimed that the “man” owes him $4000 and he “can’t get my money till now.”

However, the prosecutor, citing his antecedents, with four of a similar nature, commented that the record shows that Dasent “deals in burglary” and other offences of dishonesty.

Nevertheless, Dasent managed to dodge a prison sentence for his burglary and theft of the two expired Vincentian passports, and the US passport, none of which had been tampered with. Instead, he was fined $1000 forthwith, with a default of three months in prison. Additionally, for possession of cannabis, he was fined $400 forthwith, with a default of four weeks in prison.

However, the defendant was not so lucky with regard to another charge of the burglary on the house of Ellisia Tesheira, which occurred in Mt Pleasant on September 10. A number of personal items including a cellphone, clothing and jewelry, and ID cards were taken, as well as EC$2157 in cash, which together came up to a value of EC$4711 of stolen items.

Tesheira was home at the time of the robbery which took place in the afternoon. She was in her living room completing work, and one window was open, but all doors were locked. The work continued peacefully for the afternoon, until about 5:15pm when Tesheira went to the bedroom and realized that it had been ransacked and items were missing. The defendant was picked up by the police for investigations and he admitted to the offence. Dasent led the police to an area where he said he had hid the items but none were found.

However, because of the cleverness of the victim who carried out her own investigations, she was able to recover four bags, all of the cards, and a wristwatch.

Dasent was not able to escape incarceration for this crime, the chief magistrate deciding that an eight month jail term was appropriate.

The Mesopotamia resident still has another charge of burglary to answer to, as he pleaded not guilty last week to breaking into one Yvette Clarke’s house in Mt Pleasant Mesopotamia. This incident which happened on September 7, saw several personal items stolen, worth EC$2450.