By Latrishka Thomas
Two thieves were caught red-handed this week and were penalised for stealing the same item in two separate cases.
On January 26, Ariel Torres was being observed from the camera room of the Perry Bay Supermarket having been reportedly caught stealing in the past.
He walked through the aisles, picked up two packets of plantain chips and one small bottle of Wray and Nephew Rum Cream and placed the $10.50 bottle of alcohol in his back pocket.
He then proceeded to the cashier and only paid for the chips.
A security officer therefore approached him but he clamed that he paid for all of the items and handed them the receipt.
The receipt indicated otherwise, so the defendant was arrested and charged.
When he appeared before Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh on Monday he admitted to the crime but said he was intoxicated and thought that he paid for all of the items.
He was then told to pay a $100 fine or spend a month behind bars.
But before the police could return the bottle of rum cream to the supermarket, a cleaner at the court nabbed it.
On January 31, Nerine Samuel took the bottle from the prosecutors’ desk in a courtroom while she was supposed to be cleaning the place.
She concealed the item in her pocket before leaving the courtroom but bumped into her supervisor in a corridor, causing the bottle to fall and break.
The matter was reported to the police and Samuel was charged and brought to court yesterday where she pleaded guilty but claimed that she removed the item to clean but was going to bring it back.
She was ordered to compensate the supermarket for the liquor or face one-month imprisonment. She also lost the court cleaner job.