Security guard sentenced for theft

A security guard was sentenced last week to four months’ imprisonment after Magistrate Valdis Foldats found him guilty of stealing items from a parked car while he was on duty. 

Rohan Anthony Hermitt, 42, was on a work permit when the offense occurred on Jan. 23, 2013 in a parking lot at Queen’s Court Plaza. 

Defense attorney Dennis Brady had asked for a suspended sentence, pointing out that Hermitt had lost his job, his reputation and probably his ability to remain in Cayman. He was a man of previous good character, a church member, and someone who had references from people who were shocked by his conviction. 

The magistrate pointed out that as a security guard, Hermitt “was responsible for detecting and reporting crime on the property where he was stationed. It was a serious breach of trust to steal while acting in that capacity,” he said. 

That kind of offending has a social impact, the magistrate pointed out. It undermines people’s expectation that their property will be safe when watched over by a professional security company in a public place. 

It also affects the victim. In this case, the owner of the property was upset and angry when she gave evidence during Hermitt’s trial. Hermitt’s employer was also affected in terms of his company’s reputation: “One does not want to be known as an employer of someone who steals,” the magistrate said. 

Hermitt had pleaded not guilty to theft of a laptop computer, an iPad, and iPod and a USB stick, all with a total value of $2,700. The owner’s evidence was that she had put the items under her car seat and covered them up. She said the mechanism for a rear window had broken recently and the window was jammed in a position that left it slightly open at the top. 

Hermitt’s evidence was that he saw the items and wanted to secure them. He did not phone the police about them because he knew they patrolled the area regularly and he expected to see officers shortly, but they didn’t come. He said he didn’t take the items to the police station that night because he lived in West Bay and he thought George Town had jurisdiction. 

He said he did not take the items to the police over the next few days because he was busy working or sleeping. However, it emerged that he had also played dominoes one evening and had played games on the iPad. 

Other evidence included the fact that the car was parked in an area which Hermitt knew was not covered by closed circuit television cameras. 

The magistrate said he had no doubt that Hermitt had appropriated the items dishonestly, taking them home for his own use and retaining them in his possession until police interviewed him. The consequences to Hermitt were the normal results of crime and were not exceptional circumstances. As mitigating factors, however, they did serve to reduce the sentence that would otherwise be imposed. 

Hermitt was taken into custody after receiving his sentence. Mr. Brady advised the court that he was instructed to give notice of appeal, both as to conviction and sentence.