A 28-year-old “CD” vendor was sentenced to two months hard labour after pleading guilty to robbing a woman of frozen fish, fruit juice and $200 in cash last Saturday.
Randy Mitchell, who has seven previous charges for robbery with aggravation and robbery with violence, pleaded for a chance when he appeared before Magistrate Margaret Alert in the San Fernando Fourth Court yesterday.
According to reports, around 3.30 pm last Saturday the victim was at Zone Bar on Mucurapo Street, San Fernando, when she put a plastic bag containing four bottles of Welch’s juice valued at $120, a packet of salmon fillet valued at $160 and $200 in cash on a table.
Mitchell, who was in the bar, took the bag and left. When he was arrested later that day, he told police: “Officer, I take them thing from the table in the bar and sell it.”
None of the items were recovered.
While he pleaded guilty, Mitchell said he did not steal the bag with the items, he simply “took it”.
Alert scolded him, asked him whether there was a sign telling him to take what he wanted from the bar.
She said a trace on him had revealed he was arrested 13 times in the past and had four previous convictions and one pending matter.
Pleading for leniency, Mitchell said he had gotten his family back together and that they had just started to communicate. He offered to pay compensation to his victim.
Alert told him the maximum sentence for the offence was six months but sentenced him to two months.