FOR A MAN with 28 convictions on his criminal record, racked up between December 1973 and January 2002, 48-year-old Donovan Anthony Phillips was all smiles when he appeared before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court once again last Friday.
Though Phillips has had to dig deep into his pockets over the years to pay fines and had been sentenced to more than 15 years behind bars, he is before the courts again for his sixteenth charge of stealing motorvehicles.
A report prepared by the Crime Records Office indicates that between 1986 and 2002, Phillips has been convicted of about 15 counts of larceny of motor vehicles and two counts of driving away motor vehicles without owner's permission.
Phillips has also been convicted of an assortment of charges, including impersonating a police officer and assaulting someone in 1980.
On Friday, Phillips, who also has gone by the names 'Carlton Ricketts', 'Fatman' and 'Bigga', appeared in court accused of stealing a 1998 black Nissan Sunny automobile with licence plate numbers 0810 BH in April. However, Phillips pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Later apprehended
It is alleged that on May 18, 2004, a security guard at the John R. Wong Supermarket on Tobago Avenue in New Kingston, spotted the black motor vehicle that had been stolen from their car park on April 21, as it sped by on Trafalgar Road. The guard called the Motorized Patrol Division of the St. Andrew Central Police and Phillips was later apprehended and charged with larceny.
Police reports said that Phillips pleaded with them claiming that he had been loaned a vehicled by a friend.
When Phillips appeared before Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle, he smiled broadly when the judge recognised him. He told the judge, with a chuckle, that he specifically wanted to be tried in his courtroom.
He is to return to court June 3 for trial.
