Case against men on theft charges deferred to February

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:Two St James residents, who are facing charges in connection with the theft of several air-conditioning units, appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court last week but had the case against them deferred to February 21.

Maxine Kelvin and Sanjae Smith, both of Spring Mount addresses, are charged on separate counts of receiving stolen property committed against Claudette Cooke, but their matters will be dealt with together as their cases arise from the same circumstances.

The allegations against the duo are that sometime in December 2012, Cooke went to her appliance-store warehouse in Welcome Hall, St James, and discovered that the facility had been broken into and that several air-conditioning units were missing.

MISSING ITEMS FOUND

Subsequent investigations led to two of the stolen units being found in Kelvin and Smith's possession. They were taken to the Montego Bay Police Station, where Kelvin reportedly told investigators that someone had given him the unit in his possession.

"A mi cousin from town give it to me," Kelvin reportedly told investigators. He and Smith were subsequently arrested and charged.

In court on January 14, the prosecution revealed that several documents were still outstanding from its case file, including the arresting officer's statement and a statement on the details of the stolen items.

"Do you intend to speak for yourselves, or will you be getting a lawyer?" Resident Magistrate Sandria Wong-Small asked Kelvin and Smith.

"We will be speaking for ourselves," the duo replied.

Both defendants were then ordered to return to court on February 21, when their joint case will again be mentioned.