Man jailed for stealing PM’s Newsday papers
Friday, January 22 2010
Steven Samuel, a 44-year-old man from Laventille, has been jailed for four months with hard labour for stealing 17 copies of Newsday papers from the Office of the Prime Minister.
He will also serve two months in jail with hard labour for the unlawful entry of the compound of the Office of the Prime Minister, 13-15 St Clair Avenue, St Clair.
Samuel pleaded guilty to the charges and told Magistrate Marcia Murray yesterday that he stole the papers to sell to a customer “downtown”.
Samuel, a resident of Laventille Road, was held by security guards of the Office of the Prime Minister who found him as he was trying to get back out of the compound with the 17 Newsday papers at about 2 am yesterday.
During his appearance in the Port-of-Spain Third Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning, Murray was told that Samuel forced his way through iron bars which line the perimeter of the compound and made his way to an area where the papers were stored.
The security guards notified the St Clair police after they held Samuel who was taken to the station and kept there until his appearance in court, where he told the magistrate he wanted to make extra cash which was why he stole the papers.
Samuel has previous convictions for breaking and entering and theft and was only released from prison late last year for one of these convictions, the court was also told. Samuel pleaded guilty to stealing the papers and the illegal entry to the compound of the Office of the Prime Minister.
Murray then jailed him for four months for the theft and two months for the illegal entry but Samuel will only serve four months because the sentences are concurrent.
Police later said Samuel got into the compound by climbing over the fence and he found old copies of the papers in a storage area.
PC Paul of the St Clair Police Station laid the charges.
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