Alleged St Andrew car thief remanded

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:An auto mechanic from St Andrew, who is charged with the theft of a motor car in September, was remanded on Tuesday after giving several different answers when he was asked to state his address.

Leroy Nesbeth, of a Lawrence Tavern address in St Andrew, pleaded not guilty to robbery with aggravation against Keisha James when he appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court. However, he pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property.

Allegations are that on September 21, at about 11:30 p.m., Nesbeth held up James at knifepoint and stole her 2002 Toyota Corolla motor car, valued at J$800,000. He was later caught by the police on September 24, and was arrested and charged.

"Are you intending to get a lawyer?" Resident Magistrate Sandria Wong-Small asked the defendant.

"I can't afford a lawyer," answered Nesbeth.

"How very interesting and yet you were found in possession of an $800,000 car," the magistrate quipped. "Where are you from?"

"I am from Westmoreland," said Nesbeth.

"That's a very big place ... where exactly?" said Wong-Small.

"I live in Kingston," answered Nesbeth, drawing some chuckles from the courtroom. "I live in St Andrew."

"That is three now, sir ... people who don't live anywhere are not people who we offer bail," Wong-Small advised him.

When asked if he had a previous criminal record, Nesbeth told the court that he had previously been tried and found guilty for larceny of a motor vehicle in 2006.

"They tried me and said I was guilty. I got four years imprisonment, said Nesbeth.

"Your Honour, I understand that a firearm was involved (in that case)," clerk of the court Natalie Malcolm advised the judge.

"You are lucky four years was all you got," Wong-Small said to the defendant.

Nesbeth was ordered to be remanded until November 6, at which time his criminal records are to be brought before the court.