A clothes vendor who allegedly broke and entered a woman’s stall and stole a quantity of items was remanded to prison on Tuesday when he appeared before Magistrate Melissa Robertson at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
Thirty-seven-year-old Royston Porter of Lot 35 John Street, Lodge pleaded not guilty to the charge of break and enter and larceny.
It is alleged that on December 13, Porter broke and entered the stall of Nazeema Mohamed and stole a handbag which contained a cell phone, a bottle of attar (perfume for religious ceremonies), a pair of American gold bangles and a quantity of cash, totalling $136,000.
However, Porter stated that he was innocent of the charge and he had taken the police to Mohamed’s stall to show them it and not to find any bag that she had claimed was stolen.
However, Mohamed stated that she knew that it was Porter who had broken into her stall because “he deh wearing de attar, I smell it on he.” Mohamed explained that the attar was a scented oil. She said that she was the only one that had that type of oil in the area where she sold her goods. She went on to say that Porter had taken her bag to the back of the market near the wharf and thrown it away. Mohamed noted that some of the other stall owners in the area informed her that Porter was the person who had broken into her stall.
The magistrate subsequently ordered that Porter be remanded to prison and that he appear again in court on January 5.
