Two men charged with stealing cell phones yesterday appeared separately before Magistrate Faith Mc Gusty and one was jailed and the other remanded.
Cheddie Bacchus, who stood accused of stealing a Samsung Galaxy phone valued at $150,000 from Latifa Marks, was remanded to prison, while Andrew Gonsalves who stole a BlackBerry 8520 valued $20,000 from Lakram Singh was jailed.
Bacchus, 26, of 28 Norton Street denied that he stole the phone. He said he had borrowed the phone from Marks
who he claims he lent a chain to. According to Bacchus, when he returned from French Guiana, he went to Alexander and Regent streets where the woman was and asked for his chain. Marks, he continued, could not produce his chain, so he borrowed the phone until the chain could be returned to him.
On the other hand, Marks said she knew nothing about any chain. She further stated that the accused visited her at her mother’s stall located at Alexander and Regent streets and picked up her phone without her knowledge and went away with it.
He was subsequently remanded to prison by Magistrate Mc Gusty and the case will be called again on January 23.
Meantime, Gonsalves pleaded guilty to his charge.
When asked why he stole the phone, he told the court that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Moreover, he asked Magistrate Mc Gusty about the amount of time that he would receive and was subsequently given a 12-month jail sentence.
