Santa Cruz

A 20-year-old man who stole a suit of clothes he said he wanted to wear to a Dutty Fridaze dance in St Elizabeth last month was sentenced to 30 days' hard labour when he appeared in the Santa Cruz Resident Magistrate's Court recently.

Alvin Wallace, a labourer of Maggotty district in the parish, had pleaded guilty when he appeared before Resident Magistrate Stanley Clarke.

The accused told the court that he saw the suit, which he said looked "wicked", through a window at a house and stole it to wear to the dance.

Allegations are that on October 5 after the complainant, who operated a store from a section of her house, closed the business, the accused man went to the house and entered by forcing open a window at the rear of the building. He went inside and stole the suit.

The matter was reported to the Maggotty police and the accused was subsequently arrested and charged with housebreaking that same night.