Suzette Fraser, facing a $50,000 fine and up to a year in prison for allegedly stealing electricity, was yesterday sent on her own recognisance after appearing before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer the charge.
Fraser, of 60 Castello Housing Scheme, was accused of diverting energy supplied by the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) to her home without having a meter on October 18, 2013. A vendor and domestic worker, the woman accepted the charge when it was read to her by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
Sewnarine-Beharry informed the woman that the crime carried a penalty of a $50,000 fine along with a year of imprisonment.
A shaking Fraser explained that she had recently rented an apartment that supplied electricity to two apartments from one meter. However, she had been informed by GPL that she needed to be removed from the meter and procure her own. She further added that she had diverted the current as she waited to obtain her own meter. This period, she said, had been very short.
Despite her guilty plea, Fraser refuted the date of the accused crime. The date was clarified with Prosecutor Michael Grant and the charge was re-read to Fraser, to which she pleaded not guilty the second time around.
Fraser was placed on her own recognisance and had her matter transferred to court 10 for reports and fixtures.
