When Jermaine Greene approached a lady, asked her the time and grabbed her phone, he got more time than he bargained for.

As The STAR reported on Wednesday, Greene was sentenced to 30 days when he appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court.

For some it may seem like a lot of time for a cellphone, regardless of the value, and seeing that he was quickly caught by the police and the phone presumably recovered. However, the value of a phone these days is much more than what it costs.

With Jamaica's incredibly high level of cellphone usage, we have become extremely reliant on the mobile instrument as a means of communication. Hence, to steal one's cellphone may be to deprive one of contact with family at a critical point, workplace, and even business contacts that are stored in the instrument.

So the theft of one's phone has great implications for life, and is not a matter to be taken lightly.

Easy target

In addition, many thieves see women as easy targets to be preyed upon. We commend the lady whose phone Greene grabbed, for pursuing him and raising an alarm, which led to his capture.

And we commend the people who pushed him off the bus he ran on to for refuge. It is this rejection of criminals in our midst which will make our society a much better place to live in.