3 years’ jail time for cocaine addict

“I was there, right, but it is impossible to take all those shoes at one time…there was a broken window and I took a couple shoes…I was using drugs and intoxicated”.
Michael Singh offered this explanation on Monday when he appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer charges of break and enter and larceny.
Singh is alleged to have broken and entered the storage bond of city businessman Ashraf Ali in King Street, Georgetown, and stolen therefrom a quantity of footwear valued at $367,000 on November 1, 2017.
A second charge he faces allege that Singh had broken and entered the said storage bond on a previous occasion, when he carted off some $40,000 worth in footwear.
The accused sought to raise a defence of intoxication by alleging that he was “high” on drugs (cocaine) and therefore could not have been of sober mind to intend the offence in question or realise what he was doing. This was rejected by the magistrate, who passed a sentence of eighteen months’ imprisonment for each offence, but the sentences are set to run concurrently.
During his presentation of the facts to the court, Prosecutor Shawn Gonsalves said that on September 9, 2017, the businessman had secured the storage bond, and upon his return on October 11, 2017, discovered the items missing. He reported the matter to the police. Similar facts follow for the second offence before the courts.
There was no breakthrough in the investigation until November 25, when a police constable in the vicinity saw the defendant on the premises and arrested him. However, it is unclear what had prompted the arrest.
Following his apprehension Singh reportedly confessed to his crimes, and told investigating officials that he had sold the items on the street to purchase cocaine for his own use.
Michael Singh is a 40-year-old father of one, and is a mason by trade.