Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Oct 30, 2014 News
A 20-year-old labourer accused of breaking into his employer’s storeroom and swiping $8.9M in articles was granted $100,000 bail when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Mandela Phillips, of Lot 440 Kuru Kururu, Linden/Soesdyke Highway is alleged to have committed the act on August 28 at Kwakwani, a community in the Upper Berbice River area.
Phillips, the court heard, broke into the storeroom of Shaif and Sameera Mining Company that day and made off with one grease pump, four pairs of truck cap shacks, six pairs of Caterpillar headlamps, 14 truck fuel injectors, nine fuel pump elements, eight welding rods, two truck computer boxes, and three truck supervision kits along with other items.
According to the charge read to Phillips by Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry, the stolen articles amounted to $8.9M. He was not required to plead.
Attorney-at-Law, Konyo Thompson, who represented the 20-year-old, said that he had been employed at the Company for the past four years. She said though Phillips lives in Kuru Kururu with his parents and six siblings, he had been based in Kwakwani.
She said he is a labourer who services trucks.
Thompson explained that on Saturday last, her client left to repair a truck at Mahaica. She added that it was usual for him to receive information to pick up “stuff” for his boss.
According to the lawyer, he was contacted by someone named ‘Chris’ who instructed him to collect some things from another, named Dave. She said that her client later learnt that it was a setup for him to be arrested there.
Counsel added that when the offence took place, Phillips was with a Manager in another area.
She explained that it was then that another employee, Govindra Latchman, who had called to say that the room had been broken into while he was with the manager.
The lawyer said that her client was taken into custody since last Saturday at the Mahaica Police Station and later taken to the MacKenzie Police Station on Monday before he was brought before the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
Thompson requested bail in a reasonable sum stating that Phillips has been cooperating with the Police and was locked up in excess of 72 hours. She said that her client was not a flight-risk and added that he had no passport or any travel document.
The lawyer told the Court that her client would be willing to submit to conditions if deemed necessary for bail. She added that Phillips would be willing to assist the State in prosecuting who may have actually committed the act.
Police Prosecutor, Inspector Michael Grant did not oppose bail but asked that it be set in a substantial amount with conditions attached.
Phillips was granted bail and was instructed to report fortnightly on Fridays to the Subordinate Officer in charge at the Kuru Kururu Police Station starting from November 14. The matter will be called again in the Kwakwani Magistrates’ Court for November 21.
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