Three of four drivers accused of stealing truck-loads of imported sand from a local company confessed to the crime when they recently appeared in District “A” Traffic Court.
Javon Tekell Alleyne, of Lot 987, The Villages, Coverley, Christ Church, admitted stealing two truck-loads of sand, worth $4 400 belonging to Black Bess Mining Inc., a subsidiary of the Jada Group, on October 7.
Prosecutor Station Sergeant St Clair Phillips told the court the 28-year-old driver was supposed to collect sand from the Flour Mill site off the Mighty Grynner Highway, to transport to Black Bess Mining in
St Peter. Instead, Alleyne delivered one load to Grazettes and the other to a location in Belle Tenantry, both in St Michael. The sand was later recovered from both locations.
His attorney Janelle King said Alleyne had “no prior involvement with the law”, did not have the propensity for this type of offence and was one of the main contributors to his household. She added he had accepted full responsibility for his actions, cooperated fully with police while reminding the court that the sand had been recovered.
“This has been a sobering experience for him and he is genuinely remorseful,” she concluded.
Magistrate Allison Burke then reprimanded and discharged Alleyne.
Derek Patrick King, 52, of Olton Road, Mile and a Quarter, St Peter, received a similar sentence.
He too pleaded guilty to stealing two truck-loads of sand belonging to the same establishment, sometime between October 7 and 8.
The driver was scheduled to deliver sand to Black Bess Mining yard from the barge at the Flour Mill, but carried both loads to Grazettes. A tracking device was attached to the trucks used by both him and Alleyne.
This was also King’s first brush with the law.
Roger Philip Clarke, of 13 Orange Hill Development, St James, pleaded guilty to stealing a load of sand valued $2 200 belonging to Black Bess Mining on August 15.
The prosecutor said Clarke also collected the sand from the Flour Mill and took it to a site in Orange Hill rather than to Black Bess Mining. Management checked the GPS, realised the driver was at the wrong site and informed the police.
In mitigating, attorney Harry Husbands said his client was 38 years old, not known to the court and had pleaded guilty early, and did not have the propensity for these types of offences. He therefore asked the court to be mindful of the Penal Reform System Act in relation to first-time offenders.
Clarke also was reprimanded and discharged.
However, a fourth driver, Darren Ramon Adams, 38, of Highland, St Thomas, denied stealing two loads of sand from Black Bess Mining on October 8.
Prosecutor Phillips objected to him being released on bail. He said further investigations were being carried out by police, and granting Adams his freedom at that juncture could hamper those investigations, since there was the possibility that he could move the material.
The court eventually granted Adams $8 000 bail, with the condition that he report to District “D” Police Station every Wednesday by 10 a.m. He will reappear in that court on January 28 next year. (SD)
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