Less than three weeks after he was ordered to do community service, a 16-year-old student of the Linden Foundation Secondary School was back before Magistrate Ann McLennan in the Christianburg Magistrates’ Court to answer another charge of break and enter and larceny.
The young man, who was accused of breaking into the apartment of a Linden Foundation School teacher, was remanded to prison yesterday after pleading guilty to the charge. He is to return to court on April 20 for decision.
According to a resident of Amelia’s Ward, she noticed the boy in the compound of the teachers’ hostel and kept an eye out. When he went out of sight, the woman quietly summoned other neighbours and they surrounded the building and entered the house to search for him.
“He went right in deh,” said an eyewitness, while adding that the boy had taken off his school shirt and covered himself with a sheet in the corner of a wardrobe. “He got luck he was a schoolboy and we sorry fuh he mother or else he would have gotten a sound trashing from dem man,” added another.
Stabroek News understands that the child’s mother was extremely embarrassed by the incident. At the time, she was on her way home from her drainage and irrigation job in the area when she noticed the large crowd and upon investigation discovered that her son was the centre of attention. Residents said that she broke down in tears, while saying that he has to pay the penalty because she is fed up and did not know what else to do to help him.
The grieving mother told residents that her son had been cooperating with counsellors at the Family and Welfare Unit. She also said that he had left home early the morning to honour the court order of community service that day.
According to reports, he had already gathered a number of household articles and appliances during the break-in at the teacher’s place. He was handed over to the police and placed before the court yesterday.
The 16-year-old is one of several Linden Foundation Secondary School students deemed delinquent. The regional authorities recently declared that the school was in a crisis because many of its students were appearing in court to answer charges of serious misdemeanours.
Currently, the school is being supported by several stakeholder bodies to craft a programme of reform for the delinquent students and those who have suffered or are likely to fall prey to violent acts and indiscipline among the school population.
