Judge sends strong message to phone thief

Two men who were brought before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on separate charges relating to the theft of cellular phones were remanded in custody by Senior Parish Judge Lori-Anne Cole-Montaque on Thursday.

In one of the matters, Kavon Smith pleaded guilty to larceny from the person following an incident that took place on Barbados Avenue on April 29 at 10:30 p.m.

The court heard that the complainant was walking along the roadway when Smith walked up beside her, grabbed her black Samsung Galaxy cellular phone and ran away.

The phone, said to be valued at $110,000, was recovered after a passer-by gave chase, collared the culprit and handed him over to the police.

Smith told the judge that he did something that was out of character. He also said that he is a hard-working individual and has been employed as a pool assistant for the past three years.

"I never yet do this in my life before. I don't know what been wrong with me, so this is the last time I'm doing this. I'm not doing this any more," he said.

Cole-Montaque requested a social enquiry report and made Smith the subject of a fingerprint order. She also denied his request for bail.

"No Sir, I am not giving you any bail. Larceny from the person is very serious and I feel like the citizens of this country, anybody who owns a cell phone, are under threat and everybody owns a cell phone in this country. I can't give you bail at this time," the judge said before remanding him in custody until June 28 when he is expected to be sentenced.

In the second matter, Leon Parker was further remanded in custody to allow him to settle his legal representation.

Parker, 23, is charged with larceny by trick, following an incident where he allegedly asked the complainant to borrow her cell phone to make a call. It is alleged that he ran off with the complainant's phone.

He has not yet entered a plea in the case, but the court heard that he has another matter before the courts for robbery with aggravation.

Parker was made the subject of a fingerprint order and is to return to court on June 15.