A magistrate Friday sentenced a Jamaican man to four years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to breaking into business places and stealing jewellery.
The court heard that 35-year-old Peter Young, a graphic artist, had gone mining for gold in Guyana before arriving here and carrying out his scheme.
However, Young will only serve just a few more months in jail having already been in jail for more than three years.
Magistrate Nizam Khan imposed the sentence on Young, who pleaded guilty to the offences that took place at three stores in the capital in 2015.
Young, who was unrepresented, told the magistrate that he had gone to Demerara, Guyana, and mined for gold for more than two years.
He said at the end of that period, he had more than 11 pounds of the precious metal which he then attempted to ship to the United States. But after going to FedEx to export the gold, he was told he could not lawfully do so, since he needed a “special licence” to mine for gold in Guyana.
He came to Trinidad in the hope of selling the gold, which he said was estimated at TT$1.9 million (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents). He told the court that the store owners took the gold and paid him a fraction of its worth, on the pretext that they wanted to ensure the product was genuine.
Sponsored Links
8 Great Sunset Spots in Florida
VISIT FLORIDA
Photographers Captured These Moments When It All Went Wrong
Auto Overload
He said he had also gone to the police to complain about the lack of payment but was told that nothing could be done as a result of not having any sales receipt.
“This made me frustrated and angry. I was conned and robbed,” he said, leading him to undertake the robbery where he netted jewellery estimated at TT$909,000.
In his mitigation plea, Young told the court that while in prison he underwent anger management classes as well as biblical studies and obtained two certificates, which he presented to the court during the hearing.
But Magistrate Khan said while Young had to be commended for the improvement he had made in his life behind bars, the offences for which he was before the court had become too prevalent in society.
He said individuals should feel free walking the streets and operate their businesses without the fear of being robbed.
For each of the three offences Young was sentenced to four years imprisonment to run concurrently, minus the time he spent awaiting his trial in jai
Due tuh how dem nuh like we already.