Obeah has been blamed for causing quite a few things in Jamaica but making people steal has not been one of those. However, an 18-year-old former high-school track athlete is claiming that it's obeah that has been the cause for his recent run-in with the law.

Soniel Anderson, a past student of Spalding High School, in Clarendon, appeared in the Mandeville Resident Magistrate's Court on Wednesday to answer to a charge of break-in and larceny.

He told the court that he was a prominent track and field star at his school but his training gear was stolen one evening after training and he was obeahed; and from then he has not stopped stealing.

Anderson, who was caught on camera breaking into one of his past school's computer labs on the morning of September 3, pleaded guilty to the charges of break-in and larceny when he appeared in court.

prominent athlete

He told the resident magistrate that he was guilty but with explanation. When the magistrate gave him a chance to explain Anderson said, "Your Honour, to tell you the truth, I was a prominent athlete at the school and one evening after training somebody stole my training gear and went and work seance on it. From then, all type of bad things started to happen to me."

There was an outburst of laughter immediately after the confession which was only silenced by a police officer who insisted on silence. The magistrate ordered that a probation officer carry out a character evaluation of Anderson.

Prior to the magistrate giving that instruction, the accused man's father who was present told the court that he was finished with him because he had caused him to spend over $100,000 to get him out of trouble for stealing earlier this year.

"Your Honour, please do anything you want to do with him because me finish with him. De boy stole computer and hide in the ceiling at my house and I did not even know. Police could take me in to jail for these things which I did not even know were in my house," said the father.

Anderson is alleged to have cut two iron gates, forced open the burglar bar and broke a window to gain entry into the computer lab at the school. He is said to have stolen two laptop computers, one desktop computer, a 500-megabyte hard drive, mouse, keyboard and other computer accessories.

He was ordered remanded until November 14 when he will reappear for sentencing.

'... De boy stole computer and hide in the ceiling at my house and I did not even know.'