Worrell to spend nine months behind bars

A convicted thief, who told a Magistrates’ court today he had nowhere to live, has been provided with a place of residence for the next nine months.

Sitting in the No. 1 Criminal Court at District “A” in Bridgetown, Magistrate Wanda Blair sentenced 25-year-old Mikal Torique Worrell to nine months at Her Majesty’s Prison, Dodds, St Philip after he admitted to breaking into Jumas Restaurant on Queen’s Street, Speightstown on Monday and stealing $252 worth in drinks.

When asked by Magistrate Blair if he had anything to say before the sentence was imposed, Worrell apologized to the court, but said he had no place to go at the time because he and his mother had a falling out and he was hungry.

The convict, who had been living with his mother at Mango Lane, St Peter told the court “Me and my mother did just get way…and I sleep down there [near the restaurant]. I was hungry and I saw the things.”

Worrell, who is known to the court, also sought to defend the time of the day he committed the offence.

The charge is that he was observed on CCTV footage entering the business premises at around 3:20 in the morning of April 6 – during the national curfew period – but he contended it was more like after noon.

However, the magistrate informed the convict it did not matter what time of the day he broke into the restaurant.

“You have no justification for breaking into the place, coupled with the fact that you are on bail for a similar offence.  Since you have no other place to go, I will help you so you can take care of your problem,” declared Magistrate Blair.

She also reminded Worrell, who is unemployed, that the severity of the sentence would be based on his breaching of an existing bond and the fact that he was sentenced to three months in jail last year for robbery.

In his latest brush with the law, Worrell pleaded guilty to stealing two cases of beer valued at $96; one case of bottled water worth $60 and two cases of soft drinks valued at $96.

When he read out the facts of the case, Police Prosecutor Sergeant Martin Rock told the court that when Worrell was held by lawmen he informed them he had sold the stolen items.

Sergeant Rock also said that the proprietor of the business place knows Worrell because he frequented the area.