A 51-year-old woman said the pressure of preparing to send her 10 grandchildren back-to-school lead her to steal several textbooks from the Kingston Bookshop in downtown, Kingston on Saturday.

Sharon Simms, pleaded guilty to larceny and was sentenced to six months imprisonment at hard labour, suspended for a year.

Allegations are on Saturday, the accused went to Kingston Bookshop where she took up 10 textbooks. She attempted to walk through the security mechanism at the door along with three other women when the machine went off.

They were stopped by the security guard and Simms, who is of a Kingston address, sneaked back to a bookshelf where she put back the books. But another guard saw and held unto her. The police where called and she was arrested and charged.

Presiding Resident Magistrate Martin Gayle had compassion on the accused, who said her grandchildren's parents are in prison and all the responsibility was left back on her.

She pleaded with the court to be merciful, even bursting into tears. Her pleas were granted when she was given a suspended sentence. However RM Gayle cautioned her to get a job and take care of her expenses legally or she could go to jail. "Try and make a life, go look for work or something to take care of your grandchildren," he said.