A 14-year-old student is among six persons charged in connection with the theft of 50 laptops from St. Joseph’s Convent Marriaqua between April and November this year.
Junior Richardson, 22, of Cane End, is charged that he entered the St Joseph’s Convent Marriaqua as a trespasser between April and Nov. 19, 2018 and stole 50 Acer laptops valued $25,000, the property of the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
He was further charged that knowing or believing 20 Acer laptops to be stolen goods, he dishonestly received them for his own benefit.
The charges are indictable and, therefore, therefore, Richardson was not required to plea.
He was granted $25,000 bail and ordered to appear before the Serious Offences Court next Monday Nov. 26, for a date to be set for the preliminary inquiry.
He was also ordered to report to the Mesopotamia Police Station on Mondays between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
Meanwhile, Ronald Nanton, 22, Michael Thomas, 29, Sego Pope, 17, Kesron Richardson, 20, and the 14-year-old, all of Cane End, also appeared before the Kingstown Magistrate Court on Wednesday in connection with the crime.
They were each charged that they received for their own benefit between April and Nov. 19, 2018, one Acer laptop, knowing or believing it to be stolen.
They pleaded not guilty and were each granted $1,000.
The student was released into the custody of his mother and was ordered to appear before the Family Court today.
The other four are to appear before the Serious Offences Court on Monday for a date to be set for their trial.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include the men’s ages and address.
The judge had to just as harsh with those charged with receiving stolen property as those charged with the theft.
The upholder is worse than the thief because without the thousands of upholders there would be a huge reduction in theft in SVG.
Spare none, full weight of the law.
What is going on in SVG we have to tackle it from a community prospective. These criminals are need to delt with. Sin ah sin. It’s too much.
We have to start to deal with them like rats and roaches .
NDP supporters should ask the leader of the their party, Godwin Friday, if he believes that unemployment and poverty forced these men and boys to steal these computers for sale to people who were were also unemployed and poverty stricken, individuals criminally complict in illegal activity.
Jail him let him pay for his crime. The government should them work which are in jail. Jail should not be a 5 hotel.
What is really going on in St.Vincent. ? Some one stole $25,000.00 worth of equipment and the powers in charge released the alleged thief on $25,000.00 bail. It just doesn’t make sense. . ,along with the others on $1000.00 . While others have not been charged.. could it be that the purchasers of these who are responsible for ad mistering justice , may in some way be also culpable.
It appears as though the ULP government along with the police have found a new way of providing and creating employment. Therefore the courts and police are told to look the other way. Evil will never prevail over good .SVG needs to get rid of these plagus
Ben it’s is not necessarily that if one sells you a laptop not knowing that it was stolen makes the person an upholder. The purchaser may have bought the laptop thinking that it was genuinely belonged to the seller. What the person should have done though is to ask for proof of ownership. By doing so he or she would have done their due diligence.
nonsense lol …….the fact that they DID NOT do their due diligence makes them accountable to receive stolen property ……..you can just simply assume that they are the owners ….they must share some form of responsible . This is an important factor to deter these act …..its like harboring criminals activities .
This information is incorrect. They didn’t know the laptops were stolen. You people are destroying lives out here amd don’t even know it. Lord have mercy. Anyone wants the full story, my facebook name is Toya Sd. I can’t witness innocent people going down for a crime they didnt commit.
According to the flawed reasoning of Mr Scott sitting in his foreign home, we the law-abiding citizens living here are the real problem with St Vincent and the Grenadines and not these rampaging criminals.
And neither has our Government any possible responsibility in this escalating crimewave according to his brilliant wisdom.
I recently bought a top of the line computer, the previous one I had although not so old was not worth the effort repairing it. I asked the computer shop to recycle it. I did not have proof of ownership. All they asked me for was my identification. I am from the diaspora, according, they is the way we operate here from a country which is considered the first world.