Man imprisoned for 18 months for stealing chain

A St James man was recently sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment at hard labour after pleading guilty to stealing another man's gold chain

Twenty-nine-year-old labourer Showan Gilbert, of an Albion Lane address in Montego Bay, pleaded guilty to the charge of larceny from the person when he appeared in the St James Parish Court.

The details of the incident were not outlined during Gilbert's sentencing hearing, but his attorney, Martyn Thomas, told presiding judge Sandria Wong-Small that the defendant committed the offence in an effort to provide financially for his child.

"My instructions are that on the day in question, he left home with the intention of sourcing some medication that was needed for his daughter. Faced with this, and financially embarrassed as he was, he made the choice to grab the item from the complainant, hoping it could be sold for a few shillings," said Thomas.

"I would ask you to take into consideration the fact that he pleaded guilty at the earliest possible time and has not wasted the court's time," the lawyer added.

But in handing down the sentence, judge Wong-Small noted that according to Gilbert's record, he had previously been convicted of a similar crime.

"You have a prior offence of a similar nature. You are, unfortunately, among persons who prey upon people in Montego Bay, and when they wear their jewellery, they become targets," said Wong-Small.

"Even though you say you're a labourer, it would appear this is your profession. That sort of behaviour, this court will never condone," Wong-Small scolded Gilbert, before sentencing him to 18 months' imprisonment.