By Latrishka Thomas
A young security officer has 14 days to pay $750 for breaking and entering into someone’s property and stealing a PlayStation.
Conrad Willock, who is in his 20s, admitted to the crime before Magistrate Ngaio Emanuel-Edwards in All Saints Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
At around 3am on September 12, Willock broke into a house in Orange Valley.
The complainant’s son was in the bathroom when he heard noises coming from the living room.
When he checked the house, he saw an intruder unplugging a PlayStation.
He alerted his uncle but when the uncle arrived the perpetrator was nowhere to be found.
The matter was reported to the police, investigated, and the defendant was later arrested and charged.
He told the court on Monday that he owed someone $300 and stole the PlayStation to pay the individual back.
He was remanded to prison until yesterday when he was sentenced.
Prior to being sentenced, Willock, in tears, begged the magistrate for leniency.
“It won’t happen again, I promise you,” he said.
The magistrate weighed certain mitigating factors such as his age, his early guilty plea and the recovery of the PlayStation, against the aggravating factors such as the time of the offence, the fact that he knew the complainant, and is a security officer.
Magistrate Emanuel-Edwards told the defendant that he is “unfit to be a security officer”.
Should Willock fail to pay the $750 fine within 14 days, he will spend 14 days behind bars.