Kadeem Antonio Sealy’s attempt to gift his child’s mother with a bottle of cologne for Christmas has earned him a two-week stay at Dodds prison.
The 21-year-old unemployed man appeared before Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court and admitted to stealing one bottle of cologne, valued at $11.95, from Woolworth on December 20.
However, he denied assaulting Nolan Connell causing him actual bodily harm, on the same date.
The court heard that the accused was in FW Woolworth when he took up the item and placed it under his shirt before leaving the store. The incident was reported to the police who arrested Sealy outside the store.
He told the court he committed the theft as he wanted to give the mother of his one-year-old child a present for the holidays.
“You have a child and you do not work…. You believe it is right to go into a store and steal to please this young lady with a gift? Which part of this makes sense to you? This is not your property!” Chief Magistrate Weekes chastised.
He said that while there was heavy criticism levelled at a regional prime minister earlier this year for saying the young men were committing crimes as they were under pressure to keep young women, it was the truth in some cases.
“This reflects the truth. He is unemployed and he believes he has to satisfy this lady by getting a gift. Why? Because if he does not get her a gift, a fellow called ‘Joe Grind’ will step into the picture,” Weekes said.
Sealy, who had been given community service for another theft earlier this year after appearing in the Oistins Magistrates’ Court, initially told the police that he had no fixed place of abode. However, he told the magistrate that he lived at his godfather’s residence in Westbury Road, St Michael, but would be kicked out of the house when his godfather found out about the theft.
“You already had a chance at community service. You cannot just come and walk in a store and do what you did, so I am going to keep you for a period of time where you can process what happened. I won’t keep you for the full time but will bring you back early in the new year…. We cannot send the wrong message to the business sector,” Magistrate Weekes stated.
The matter was adjourned until January 3, 2024.
