Case against alleged phone thief deferred

WESTERN BUREAU:

The case against a St James man, who reportedly stole cellular phones from two hotel rooms last November, was deferred until June 23 as the defendant had not been brought to court when his case was mentioned on Monday.

Dimitri Ffrench, of a Montego Bay address, was expected to appear before the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court, where he is charged with two counts of simple larceny. However, presiding magistrate Wilson Smith set the new court date after being told that Ffrench was still in police custody and had not been brought to court.

"I understand that he (Ffrench) is in custody and will not be brought today, so I will respectfully ask for a date next week (for the case to be mentioned)," said Clerk of the Court Natalie Malcolm.

"The case will be mentioned on June 23, and please remember to bring him on June 23," Smith said.

The allegations are that sometime in November 2013, Ffrench broke into two rooms at the Holiday Inn Hotel, in Montego Bay, and stole two cellular phones, one of which was valued at US$600 and another valued at US$3,000.

Ffrench was held on the hotel compound with a bag containing the items and was subsequently arrested.

- Christopher Thomas