Shoplifter jailed after striking twice in a month

A Lower Questelles man whom Chief Magistrate Rechanne Browne, last month, urged to stop shoplifting was before her again on Friday for the same crime.

Isaiah King, 23, pleaded guilty at the Serious Offences Court, to a charge that on Oct. 9, at Stoney Ground, he stole one bottle of Hennessey, value EC$129, from Massy Store.

He was sent to jail for four month for that crime — one month after he was given a chance to pay a fine for a similar offence.

On Sept. 9, King had pleaded guilty to stealing from Jax Enterprises on Sept. 6, a vest, a t-shirt, a pair of short pants, and a pair of slippers, total value EC$149.

“You have a history and you keep doing it,” the chief magistrate had told him then.

But King had said it was the second time that he had shoplifted.

“You have gone past that already, the chief magistrate had added.

“When you can’t afford something, you leave it alone… You keep doing it and this is small compared to what you get involved in,” she had said.

Browne had fined King EC$300 and told him that his behavior is “too repeated”.

However, last week Wednesday, King was at it again.

The facts of the case are that a loss prevention officer at the Massy Stores, at Stoney Ground, was on duty about 8:45 a.m. on Oct. 9 when she noticed that one bottle of Hennessey was missing.

A review of the surveillance footage showed King removing the bottle of liquor from the shelf and placing it in his backpack and leaving without paying.

The following day, about 9:57 a.m., the loss prevention officer was on duty when she saw King enter the store.

As he was about to leave, security officers approached King and informed him of the theft of the bottle of Hennessey.

He, however, denied having done so.

King was handed over to the police, whom he told, “Officer, I have the bottle of Hennessey. I will carry you for it.”

He took the police to his home in Lower Questelles and handed over the drink to them.

In mitigation, King asked the court to give him a chance “to pay the fine”.

However, chief magistrate Rechanne Browne asked him how he knew the court was going to impose a fine.

Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delplesche asked King if he has money to pay for the Hennessey and the defendant said he could get it within a month.

He said he had stolen the drink because of pressure, adding that things are hard on him as he is not getting any jobs.

Delplesche, however, pointed out that King has a propensity for shoplifting.

“A good, short, sharp shock will put you to right,” the prosecutor said, referring to a prison sentence.

But King maintained that he took the drink because things are hard.

He told the court that he had a phone and can “sell it and bring the money”.

“I don’t want to go back behind there. Serious. Your honour, you could give me a little chance, please?” he said.

In handing down her sentence, the chief magistrate noted the impact of theft on business and the degree of planning and the clever manner in which King had attempted to conceal his crime.

She further said that King has previous convictions of a similar nature, three of them being very recently and that he was just released from custody, his last conviction being in September.

Browne sentenced him to six months in jail, minus the one-third discount for his guilty plea.

This means that King will serve a sentence of four months.