Homeless man sentenced to two years in prison for simple larceny

A 47-year-old homeless man, Eon Paul was sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to simple larceny.
Paul appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, where he admitted to the crime.
The incident occurred on March 26, at Hogg Street, Albouystown, Georgetown. Paul was found to have stolen two Toyota Harrier mirrors, valued at $141,360, from Caroline Hicks. In court, he explained that his motive for the theft was to raise money for his birth certificate and identification to qualify for a $100,000 cash grant.

He insisted that this was his first offence and admitted to taking the mirrors after noticing them on a parked vehicle. Paul later discarded the stolen items in a nearby bin after noticing they were marked. “I throw it in the bin cause once it’s marked, it’s no good,” he told the court.
Although Hicks was absent from court, her husband testified that on the day of the theft, he had parked the vehicle on Independence Boulevard around 7:00h and went home to prepare for work. When he returned at 9:00h to take the car to the wash, he noticed that the side mirrors were open and discovered they were missing.
He contacted a local businessman and requested video footage, which showed a man matching Paul’s description removing the mirrors.
In the prosecution’s statement, it was revealed that Paul had a prior criminal history. He was granted bail in 2010 for a charge of breaking and entering, and had also been remanded in 2018 for simple larceny. In light of this, Magistrate McGusty sentenced Paul to two years of imprisonment.
Paul was previously charged with the theft of insulation wires belonging to the Guyana Post Office Corporation (GPOC) in 2018.
On April 15 of that year, Paul allegedly stole three insulation wires, valued at $75,000, from Robb Street, Georgetown. Although he pleaded not guilty, the court, considering his status as a homeless individual and the nature of the offence, denied him bail at the time. He was later released from custody.