‘Homeless’ man who stole bed, clothing, utensils remanded to prison  

A man who told the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court that he is homeless was remanded to prison until Thursday for theft of items he said were in an abandoned building.

The man, Vivian “Chin Chin” Chin, of Georgetown, appeared before Magistrate Bertie Pompey on Monday and was remanded in prison for sentencing.

Chin pleaded guilty to a charge that between Dec. 1, 2023 and Jan. 25, 2024, at Langley Park, he entered the dwelling house of Eluterious Sam, of Langley Park, as a trespasser and stole a three-seater chair, valued at EC$1,000; one wooden bed frame, valued at EC$900; one green and white area rug, valued at EC$500; two metal pots, valued at EC$550 and a quantity of clothing including pants shirts, towels and sheets; valued at EC$1,000, total value EC$ 4,550, Sam’s property.

According to the facts read by PC605 Mc Dowald, Sam is the owner of the two-bedroom house. Last December, he secured his house and went to Sandy Bay, as it was in need of repair.

On Jan 24, at about 7 p.m., he went to Langley Park to check on the house and discovered a door was opened and further checks revealed the items missing. 

Mc Dowald told the court that other items including mattresses, blender, two mixers … were allegedly missing and according to information, a search warrant was carried out at Chin’s place of residence and some of the items were recovered there.

Mc Dowald told the court that Chin was only charged for those items that were recovered.

In mitigation, Chin told the court that he works for Sam at intervals to trim his yard and he gets paid EC$3 or EC$2. He told the court that the house belonging to Sam has been abandoned for over two years.

Chin said he does not have a place to live since someone burnt his house down.

He said he has been living on the streets since he was a teenager and had gone to prison before.

“I was in the station for five days and I can’t bear it no more. Put me on a bond,” Chin told the court.

Prosecutor acting Corporal of Police Shamrock Pierre asked that the defendant be remanded to prison.

Pompey said he wanted to see the defendant’s conviction record before handing down his sentencing.