…tells court he committed the act because “times hard”
A former employee of a Royal Castle fast food establishment was on Thursday charged for relieving Zachariah Adams, the Virtual Complainant (VC), of a cellular phone and sentenced to two months in prison after he admitted to the offence at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan read the allegation which detailed that on October 28, 2017, at Aubrey Barker Road in Georgetown, Kevin Sears robbed the VC of a smart phone valued $19,000 and committed personal violence against the VC during the robbery.
Sears, 21, of Famers Field, Sophia, Greater Georgetown, readily admitted to the offence but claimed that he never used violence on the school boy. According to him, he merely put his arms around the Complainant and requested that he hand over his phone because “times hard”.
While Prosecutor Arvin Moore corroborated the defendant’s version of events, there were some minor discrepancies. According to the Police’s case, the VC was waiting on public transportation in the vicinity of the fast food place after making a purchase when he was accosted by the accused who choked him and demanded that he hand over his cellphone.
In fear of further violence, the boy readily complied and the accused made his escape. The matter was reported to the Police and an investigation was launched, resulting in the defendant being positively identified by the victim during an identification parade.
“I am very apologetic…,” said Sears while denying the prosecution’s claims that he is a known figure to the Police for similar offences.
Meanwhile, Michael Garraway, a 19-year-old security guard employed at the aforementioned fast food establishment, was also charged in relation to the same matter; for receiving from Sears, one cellular phone, knowing same to be stolen or unlawfully obtained; the property of Zachariah Adams.
Defence counsel for Garraway based his application for bail on the grounds that Garraway had voluntarily handed over the phone to the Police in the presence of his supervisor. According to the defence’s case, Garraway had borrowed the phone from Sears who was a former work colleague to make a phone call. However, by the time he sought to return the phone, Sears had disappeared.
According to the lawyer, Garraway did the right thing by voluntarily taking himself to the Police and handing over the stolen item upon becoming aware of the situation and had no intention of doing otherwise.
Bail was set in the sum of $30,000 and the case continues on November 9.
