Two men were yesterday each sentenced to 18 months in jail after they pleaded guilty to breaking into the Nirva Supermarket and stealing over $700,000 in items.
Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus handed down the sentences to Brian Singh and Jermaine Manning, who were charged separately with break and enter and larceny.
The men were charged with stealing items amounting to $755,500 between November 2, 2021 and November 3, 2021, from the Sheriff Street, Campbellville supermarket. Following their guilty pleas, probation reports were compiled for each of them and read to the court.
The probation report for both men stated that they each had previous encounters with the law and had been convicted before. According to the report, they had not shown remorse for their actions.
A third man, Ryan Fowler, who was also charged with the crime, denied any culpability and he was released on bail.
The Police Prosecutor had previously told the court that the manager and the staff of the supermarket secured the building on November 2 at about 22:45 hrs. They then returned on the following day and discovered that the extension to the store had been broken into. Toys were discovered to have been stolen. The Manager checked the CCTV footage of the night before and saw the two men removing the items. The matter was reported and the men were later arrested.
The Prosecutor had said that Fowler received the items from the men. He was later placed in police custody.
He claimed he had bought the toys for $10,000 and then he was told of the robbery while at work. He said that his boss asked him about the toys, which he had mentioned, and then later told him to return the toys to the supermarket. He said he did not know the toys were stolen. He said that he saw the men with the toys and asked them where they had gotten the toys. The men told him that they collected it from a container and he then paid the amount they were selling them for.
Singh, who was previously on remand for a murder charge and later served community service for a robbery charge, told the court that he was unemployed and had four children to provide for. He said that he was released from jail in January and that he had been facing financial issues ever since. He said that he is unsure what persuaded him to steal, apologized to the court and said that he would find work to repay the owner of the supermarket. Manning also shared a similar confession. He added that he was hungry and wanted to make some money. He also said that he was not a criminal. He said that he succumbed to the devil’s temptation when he committed the offence.
In sentencing the men, the Magistrate said that she was taking into consideration that both men have past convictions and that they pleaded guilty rather than wasting the court’s time. However, she also said that neither of them had shown remorse. She then sentenced each of them to 18 months in jail.
