A domestic burglary is a serious offence, whether the items taken are worth $1,000 or $50, Acting Magistrate Valdis Foldats said last week.
He was hearing facts and mitigation in the case of Linford Phillip Byrd, who admitted burglary but denied taking all of the items reported missing.
Byrd, also known as Lenford, received a sentence of 18 months imprisonment.
Crown Counsel Tanya Lobban said a George Town resident reported that he had left for work at 6.30am on 8 December and had locked the outside door.
When he returned home at 3.30pm, he discovered numerous items missing. These included a watch, cell phone, a pair of sneakers, DVD player and CI$500 in cash, all valued at $1,010.
The officer who responded to the report noted that there had been forced entry to an inner door, but not to the outside door.
Information was received about a man seen on a nearby roof around 4am the day of the burglary. As a result of that description, Byrd was taken into custody.
He admitted breaking into the house, but said he took only a DVD player. Its value was $45.
He told officers he used a knife to pick the lock on the door at the front of the house.
Byrd’s home was searched, but nothing relating to the burglary was found.
Defence Attorney Menelik Miller said the mitigating factors in this offence were Byrd’s full cooperation and guilty plea, plus the fact that it was a daylight burglary.
He said the defendant accepted his rather extensive record with many offences similar to the one before the court. They had been fuelled by Byrd’s addiction to ganja.
Byrd, now 41, had received numerous custodial sentences since 1985, Mr. Miller said.
‘He is on his way to becoming incredibly institutionalised…. Custody has not had effect.’
The magistrate described the burglary as low-end with little, if any, aggravating features.
He said Byrd’s record showed a sad situation. The defendant needed help with his addiction. Maybe he needed help with job skills. Maybe an unemployed individual with time on his hands and a drug habit will commit offences to feed that habit.
He urged Byrd to learn some skills and get a job after his release from prison so that he would not repeat what was becoming a vicious cycle.
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