Repeat thief sent to prison

“I done drink dem already” was the loud declaration of a man who was taken before a Bridgetown court on Monday, accused of stealing energy drinks from a St Michael business.

Andrew Sylvester Moore, 50, of no fixed place of abode, appeared in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court and admitted to stealing three cans of energy drink belonging to Hamit Antal on May 30. He also admitted that the next day, he stole two speakers valued at $125 and a cup valued at $40, belonging to MOH Electronics.

Reading the facts into evidence, the court prosecutor Station Sergeant Chrisna Williams said Antal owned a variety business on Lower Bay Street, St Michael, which sells snacks, clothing and other items. Around 5:10 p.m. on the mentioned date, Moore was captured on security cameras removing the drinks from the shelves and leaving the store without paying for them.

In the second incident, Moore entered MOH Electronics asking people for money. After being turned away, he returned 20 minutes later, picked up a speaker, asked an employee for the price, then placed the item in his pocket and left. He returned twice more, taking an insulated cup from the display window and another speaker.

Police were contacted and apprehended Moore along Nelson Street. He took the officers to where he had hidden the speakers in some bushes. The cup was not recovered.

The court heard that Moore has 49 previous convictions and had last appeared before Magistrate Alison Burke on May 2, when he was placed on a suspended sentence.

“Mr Moore, you just left here. Why are you not keeping out of trouble?” Magistrate Burke told him. “This means I have to send you up because you have found yourself back here again already.”

“Ma’am, I sick. I can’t go jail. De people get back dem tings,” he replied.

Telling him he could receive medical treatment at Dodds Prison, Magistrate Burke sentenced Moore to three months in prison for the two thefts, to run concurrently, but consecutively to the six-month suspended sentence previously imposed.