“I thief the bike to sell it because I saw a horse cart and I wanted to buy it,” 20-year-old Ken Das said when he pleaded guilty to stealing his roommate’s motorcycle from a school compound. He continued, “But when I realised who bike it was, I was going to take it back but then I reach up in an accident.”
Das appeared before Principal Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts where he was slapped with three charges.
The first charge stated that on June 27, 2019, at Charlestown, Georgetown, while being in the company of another and armed with a cutlass, he robbed Stacy Reid of a phone valued at $80,000.
It was further alleged that on the same day and at the same location, while being in the company of another and armed with a cutlass, he robbed Tandy Whittaker of a phone valued at $65,000, a bag valued at $3,000, medication valued at $5,500, and $31,0000 in cash.
The last charge stated that between July 1 and July 2 at Charlestown, Georgetown, he stole one motorcycle with licence plate CJ 8934 which was valued at $180,000, the property of Andre Haywood.
Das pleaded not guilty to the first two charges and pleaded guilty with explanation to the latter charge.
Facts presented by Police Prosecutor Adduni Inniss stated that on July 1, 2019, at around 22:00 hrs, the victim parked his motorcycle in the compound of a primary school and went home. The following day when he returned, he observed his motorcycle missing and the two female security guards told him Das robbed them and stole the bike. Haywood then went and reported the matter to the station. A few hours later, Das was arrested after he was involved in an accident while riding the bike. He was then taken to the station and admitted to the offence, hence the present charges.
Das in his explanation told the court that he lives with Haywood but had no idea that the motorcycle was his since he stole it from a school compound to sell it in a bid to purchase a horse cart. He added that when he found out whom the bike belonged to, he was returning it when he was involved in an accident. Das, who asked the court to have sympathy on him, told the magistrate he is the sole provider for his two younger siblings.
The magistrate, after listening to both sides, sentenced Das to one year in prison. He is expected to make his next court appearance on August 2 in relation to the matters to which he pleaded not guilty.
Last year, Das was committed to stand trial at the High Court for attempted murder. He is accused of attacking a man and stabbing him to his face with an ice pick due to an argument over a phone.
The charge against him alleged that on June 9, 2018, at Lombard Street, Charlestown, he unlawfully and maliciously wounded Anthony Bartholomew, with the intent to commit murder.
At the conclusion of the preliminary inquiry into the charge, Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan committed him to stand trial in the High Court.
He was out on $300,000 bail pending the hearing and determination of the trial.
