Hungry phone thief convicted

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:01 by GxMedia

A man who stole an GUY$8,000 phone because he was hungry is now faced with a GUY$20,000 fine or  three months imprisonment.

The charge against Devrox Gomes is that on July 6 2013, at Zan Department Trading Store, he stole an Alcatel cellular phone property of Kamini Sugrim.

The man pleaded guilty and was given a chance by the Magistrate Faith McGusty to explain his actions.
According to Gomes, on the day in question he was hungry and in search of a job. “I didn’t mean to do what I did. I was looking for a job and also hungry and everybody just kept ‘donting’ me…”

In presenting the facts, Prosecutor DeNiro Jones stated that the defendant went into the store and asked the Virtual Complainant (VC) for something to eat and she left to fulfill his request, leaving her phone on the counter. The court heard that Gomes then snatched up the phone and exited the building. He was subsequently arrested by public-spirited persons.

Before meting out her order, the Magistrate engaged the defendant by asking him why he took to phone if he knew Sugrim went to get him something to eat and what he intended to do with the phone. To the first question, Gomes stated that he did not know that the woman was going to get him something to eat, while in response to the second question he said he was going to sell the phone.

The Magistrate then imposed the monetary penalty, stating that the defendant knew of his actions and so she couldn’t just let him go, at the risk of there being a repeat offender.