A labourer was yesterday sentenced to two years in jail after he told a city magistrate that he was under the influence of alcohol when he stole a car from the Stabroek Market tarmac.
Anthony Cooper, 32, of South Georgetown, appeared at the George-town Magistrate’s Court where Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan sentenced him. Cooper confessed that on October 10, 2021, at the Stabroek Market tarmac, Georgetown, he stole a motor vehicle, Toyota Axio, registration number PZZ 1293, valued at $3.5 million, property of Onika Ashanti Ridgemond-Bobb.
“I was under the influence of alcohol on the Sunday when I took the vehicle,” the man told the court. He said that he was tired from work and drunk when he saw the car had its keys in one of the doors. He said he waited for the owner to return but after sometime he ended up hopping into the car and leaving. Cooper said that his landlord told him to return the car after he got home but he was not brave enough to do so. However on Tuesday he decided to return the car and he was then arrested for the theft.
According to the police prosecutor, on the date mentioned, Ridgemond-Bobb parked her car at the Stabroek Market tarmac but forgot the car key in the driver-side door. The woman who vends at the market, did not realise the car was missing until after she returned. She then made a report at the police station. Investigators were able to recover CCTV footage which showed Cooper entering the car and driving away with it.
The court heard that on Tuesday, the woman’s husband was driving along the East Bank Public Road when he recognised the car because of the markings on it. The number plate had been changed to HD 1655. The man then drove into the path of the car which caused the driver to stop. He accosted the driver and questioned him as to where he got the car from. According to the statement, the man admitted that he took the car from the market. He was then taken to the Brickdam Police Station and handed over to the police.
After the facts were read to the court, Cooper said that he told the man that he is willing pay the woman for the time he was using the car. However the Magistrate reprimanded him and told him that being drunk is not an excuse for stealing a car. He then pleaded with the court to give him a chance to compensate the woman. Cooper was sentenced to two years in jail.
