Man fined for stealing friend’s phone

Anthony Samuels, a man who admitted that he borrowed his friend’s BlackBerry smartphone then later disappeared with it, was yesterday fined $50,000 for the offence of simple larceny by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.

The court heard that on October 6, in Georgetown, Shawn Jones was at his stall at Regent and Hinck streets when Samuels approached him and requested to borrow his phone to make an important call.

According to Prosecutor Winneth Hubbard, while Jones was attending to a customer who was at his stall, Samuels left with the phone. Jones tried dialling the number and got no response.

Hubbard added that Jones then reported the matter to the Brickdam Police Station and he took police to Samuel’s home, where he was found. He was, however, unable to recover the phone.

A relative of Samuels yesterday offered to compensate Jones for the phone, which he accepted. The magistrate then ordered Samuels to pay a fine of $50,000 and compensation for the loss of the phone.