A man who decided to steal money from a woman’s bank account after she left her bank card in an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) was on Monday handed a twelve-month suspended prison sentence.
Alvin Marshall, 28, admitted to the charge but managed to only suffer a reprimand after he repaid his victim.
The charge read by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 1, stated that Marshall stole $30,000 from the Republic Bank account of Leticia Headly.
Prosecutor Bharat Mangru told the court that Headly went to an ATM to transact business and forgot to retrieve her card from the machine.
She later returned to the bank, where she discovered the money was missing from her account, Mangru said.
A report was then made and the police subsequently discovered that Marshall was captured on the CCTV footage withdrawing the money.
Further, Mangru indicated that Marshall admitted to taking the money.
When the magistrate asked Marshall if he had anything to say, he apologised for his actions and begged her to be lenient in her ruling. “I am very sorry, madam. I just asking you to be lenient with me,” the defendant responded, while he requested to return the money to the complainant.
Headly, who was absent from court, was then called by the police to collect the cash.
The magistrate then requested a probation officer to meet with the accused and after a brief adjournment she reprimanded Marshall for his actions and she explained to him that he will be sentenced to a suspended twelve-month prison term.
