A salesman is now on bail pending his sentencing after he pleaded “guilty with explanation” to a charge that he stole a midwife’s cellular phone.
The charge against Shawn Smith alleged that on January 7th, at New Market Street, he stole a $100,000 cellphone belonging to Kathleen Bristol.
After pleading “guilty with explanation” to the charge read by Georgetown Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus, Smith told the court that he found the phone on a bench and he picked it up 15 minutes prior to a search that was launched for it. Smith then said that he declared he had the phone before he was aware of the search that was being conducted. However, the police prosecutor said Bristol, who at that time was on-duty at the Guyana Public Hospital (GPH), noticed that her handbag, which she had placed on a chair in a room that was assigned to her, was missing. She looked for the handbag and eventually found it on another chair. Upon checking the handbag, she discovered that her phone was missing and she immediately alerted security.
Security was then informed by an eye-witness that a man, dressed in a black and blue shirt, was in Bristol’s room. After receiving the information, persons at the Hospital weren’t allowed to leave until they subjected themselves to a search first.
Smith, who fit the description of the man who had been in Bristol’s room, however, was quickly located and a search was conducted on his person and the phone was found.
The police prosecutor also said Smith had a previous conviction relating to armed robbery. Due to this information, Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus said she could not yet sentence Smith as she didn’t have the facts of the previous conviction. Smith was subsequently granted his release on $100,000 bail and the matter was adjourned until January 15th, 2019 for sentencing.
