Teacher escapes jail time, repays stolen cash to ex-boyfriend

A 23-year-old teacher, who was remanded to prison until she repaid the $467,000 she admitted to stealing from her ex-boyfriend, has reimbursed the man the money in full.
Nickacia Sobers, 23, of Soesdyke-Linden Highway, appeared before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on Wednesday to answer to a simple larceny charge.
While at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, the educator pleaded guilty to stealing $467,000 from her ex-boyfriend, Richard Brathwaite, on December 20, 2022, at Avenue of the Republic.
As a consequence of her guilty plea, and her promises to repay the man, Sobers was remanded to prison and given until Friday to repay the sum in full.
When the matter came up on Friday, Sobers repaid all the monies. In light of this, her former lover refused to proceed with the matter, and as such, the charge against her was dismissed.
At the woman’s initial court appearance, the Police Prosecutor related that Sobers and Brathwaite were in an intimate relationship that ended on December 20, 2022.
Brathwaite operates a shoe stall in the vicinity of Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown, and on the day in question, he secured the money in his car, which had been parked in front of his stall. After Sobers had visited the man’s stall, the prosecutor told the court, she went into his car, where she spent some time alone before Brathwaite dropped her off at the Timehri bus park. When Brathwaite drove back to his vending spot, he made checks for the money, but discovered that the sum was missing. He immediately reported the matter to the Police, and Sobers was arrested.
During her address to the court, Sobers admitted to stealing her ex-lover’s money, stating that she had outstanding debts and used the money to pay them off.
According to her, she made several attempts to repay Brathwaite, but he refused to accept part payments from her. While Brathwaite confirmed that Sobers had promised to repay him, he said that calls to her cell phone went unanswered. Given what the two parties told the court, the Chief Magistrate remanded Sobers to prison, and gave her until Friday to repay Braithwaite.
If she had failed to repay the sum, she would have been sentenced. (G1)