By Latrishka Thomas
A man has been found guilty of “obtaining money by false pretenses” after he wrote a cheque that was met with insufficient funds.
Shortly after the verdict was passed down in the High Court on Tuesday and Alphonso Ryan fainted, fell forward, and broke the dock.
Seven years ago, Ryan issued a cheque in the amount of $16,902.98 to the Plumbing and Electrical Limited (PEL) as payment for plumbing and electrical supplies, knowing that there were insufficient funds in his account.
The convict knew the complainant for a number of years and went to PEL on August 8, 2014 and received goods worth almost $8,000.
He wrote a cheque to the complainant but asked him not to cash it until September 16 because he needed to “sort out some finances at the bank”.
On September 1, 2014, Ryan went back to the establishment and credited a further $9,029.70 worth of goods and wrote a new cheque with the total sum of the two invoices — $16,902.98 — and dated that cheque September 24.
When that day came, the complainant called the accused and asked him if he could now deposit the check and, based on the conversation, he did so.
However, the cheque was returned to him.
The complainant informed the defendant about the returned cheque, and the defendant again asked for a few days to “sort some issues with the bank”.
A few days passed and the complainant decided to call Ryan and gave him to option to return the goods, but he failed to do so.
A report was subsequently made to the police.
Some elements of the aforementioned facts were disputed by the defence in trial but in the end the prosecution proved their case and Ryan was found guilty.
He will be sentenced for the offence on July 27.