June 16 sentencing for phone thief

A phone thief was remanded in the St James Parish Court until June 16, following last week's revelation that he had previously done prison time on firearms-related charges.

Kemar Sawyers was in court on the charge of simple larceny, to which he pleaded guilty with explanation. The court was told that on April 12, at 1:30 p.m., the complainant was at her business place along River Bay Road in Montego Bay, when Sawyers entered the premises, grabbed the woman's phone from the counter, and fled. He was chased and held by bystanders and taken to the Barnett Street Police Station.

Under caution, Sawyers reportedly said, "Officer, dem thief mi phone and mi a try hustle it back." He was subsequently arrested and charged.

"What is your explanation?" presiding Judge Sasha-Marie Ashley asked Sawyers, after the allegations were outlined.

"Mi did have one phone and lost it and try take one," Sawyers answered.

"You ever get sentence for anything before?" Ashley asked.

"For a Beretta, in 2018, and I got two years," Sawyers replied.

However, subsequent checks revealed that Sawyers had served three years of a four-year sentence for possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Ashley subsequently ordered that Sawyers' fingerprints should be taken and that a social enquiry report should be prepared ahead of his sentencing date of June 16. He was remanded until that time.

C.T.