The 15-year-old boy, who along with an adult, Romano Jackson, stole EC$6,500 in vehicle parts from a Brighton garage between May 9 and 11, was, on Monday, ordered to remain in custody at the Questelles Police Station until he turns 16, next January.
Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett had on May 21 ordered that the teen live at the Lodge Boys Training Centre, a state-run home for at risk or delinquent youth until his 16th birthday.
The court had told the teen that if he runs away from the home, he would be made to live at the Questelles Police station, where youth offenders are sometimes kept.
The senior magistrate had explained to the teen the differences between Liberty Lodge and the police station.
However, on Monday, the teen was back in court, having run away from the centre twice since his sentencing.
He told the court that he did not like the conditions at the boys’ home, hence his decision to abscond.
At the sentencing hearing last month, lawyer Grant Connell who had mitigated on behalf of both accused had asked the court that the law needs to be amended to allow for better sentencing of convicted persons such as the teen.
Connell had told the court that he knew the teen since he was 5 years old, and unless he changes, the society will have a problem.
“He needs some counselling, but Liberty Lodge needs help as well. Boys can just walk out,” Connell had said.
The magistrate had observed that the teen was behaving like someone who has been delinquent for years, considering his meals and boarding etc., as far as his place of detention is concerned.
Connell had urged the court not to be fooled by the teen’s “angelic look”.
“Wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Connell had said.
The senior magistrate had said that the court was “not fooled by this 15-year-old”.
Connell had told the court that the teen is a good swimmer who used to be involved in the swimming association.
“People tried,” the lawyer had said, adding that Liberty Lodge was not going to straighten out the teen.
“I have seen him perform in the Family Court in the cell,” the lawyer said.
The lawyer had said that the state needs an institution that is stricter that Liberty Lodge, even as he had said he knows individuals who had passed through that home and came out well.
Connell had asked the court to explore an order that the teen enrol in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Cadet Force.
The magistrate had said the court would see what it can do for the teen.
“If we don’t, he will come back to haunt society,” Connell had said.
“If he goes to the wrong person’s home, he’d be dead,” the magistrate said.
The court had further ordered that the teen must return to school and that a report on his progress be presented to the court on Aug. 31.
The teen had asked the court if he could be allowed to spend the “Christmas season” with his mother.
The senior magistrate had said the court would consider having him spend Christmas Day with his mother, but not the Christmas season.
Meanwhile the court had ordered Jackson to compensate Franklyn King, of Richmond Hill, the garage owner in the amount of EC$6,500 by Dec. 31 or spent nine months in jail.
Someone had accosted Jackson leaving him with an injury to the head while he was awaiting sentencing in the matter on May 18.
Which Judge pass that sentence? How can they lock up a minor at the police station for six months? Lard ayo ain’t easy put down.