Man jailed for larceny after stepping in to translate for court while awaiting own trial

A man who stepped in on Friday to help the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts by translating for a Spanish-speaking defendant in another trial while waiting in the dock for his own trial was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment that same day.
Forty-eight-year-old Sunil Adnarine was sentenced after pleading guilty to larceny.
The charge stated that between September 15 and 16, 2025, at Carifesta, Georgetown, Adnarine stole construction equipment valued at $148,000, property of Colin Talbot Construction.
According to the case, on the night of September 16, a guard on duty spotted Adnarine at the site, where he was caught tampering with an excavator and attempting to remove a battery. The guard immediately intervened, and the accused admitted his actions before police were summoned. While no stolen items were recovered, Adnarine was arrested and later confessed to the offence.
The prosecutor told the court that Adnarine had approached the guard earlier, claiming he only wanted to move equipment, but when confronted, he lashed out and attempted to conceal his actions. Adnarine, in his defence, told the court he had taken only a single battery and insisted that he was beaten and falsely accused of stealing additional items.
In passing sentence, Magistrate Annette Singh began with a starting point of nine months. She deducted three months for the defendant’s early guilty plea, which saved judicial time, and an additional two months in recognition of his previous assistance to the court as a translator. This left Adnarine with a four-month prison term.
During a previous court proceeding on Friday, a Spanish national appeared before the court, but no translator was present at the time, leading to difficulties in court in communicating with the defendant.
Shortly afterward, Adnarine was brought into the courtroom in shackles to sit in the dock to await his trial. Upon noticing the communication barrier, he volunteered to assist, stating that he had lived in Venezuela for 32 years and was fluent in Spanish.
He was sworn in and served as a translator for the court. His willingness to help worked in his favour, and two months were subsequently deducted from his sentence.