The sentencing of some persons may be difficult at times.
And 18-year-old Danroy Delpleche of Kingstown seems to have fallen into that category.
Delpleche, on Wednesday, pleaded guilty at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court to stealing a Digicel cellular phone valued $35, and sim card valued $15.
In response to questions from Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett, the youngster told the Court he attended a secondary school but dropped out in Form 1, and is unemployed.
“If he dropped out at Form 1, he has no skill. He just going to be on the streets of Kingstown, and he is just going to keep coming before the Court,” the Senior Magistrate reasoned.
“I don’t know what to do. I can’t get a job for him. Because he is young, sending him to prison may be out of the question,” Burnett contended, adding, “Clearly, if he dropped out at Form 1, he is not doing anything, he is just going to create problems.”
But while agreeing with the factors outlined by the Magistrate Prosecutor Samuel highlighted another side to the equation.
“We have a virtual complainant who is without a phone,” she stated.
Burnett, however, concluded that he would bond the defendant for one year, and in breach of the bond, he would have to pay the Court $1,000 forthwith or go to prison for three months.
In presenting the facts earlier, the Prosecutor told the Court that around 8 p.m. on September 7, the virtual complainant, Rodney Dellimore, who was ‘hanging out’ at Heritage Square, left his phone to charge in an area there. A shower of rain followed and he placed the phone where it would not get wet, and went under a shed to shelter. When he returned to where he had left the phone, it was not there. He reported the matter to the police, investigations were carried out, and Delpleche, who became a suspect, was taken into custody.
He told the police he gave the phone to his mother who then gave it to his brother, who claimed that it was then stolen.