Guilty Plea on Two Dishonesty Counts

36 year-old Jermaine Salaam plead guilty to two counts of robbery and theft this morning [Jan 12] in Magistrates Court.

The first was robbing $120 from a Somerset resident this past Friday [Jan 7]. The Prosecutor told the Magistrate that Mr Salaam had first asked the victim for a dry T-shirt to replace the wet one that he had on. Then he asked for $5. The victim gave him $3. Mr Salaam asked for more money and the victim gave him another dollar.

The court then heard that Mr Salaam then reached inside the victim’s jacket, ripped out the jacket pocket and the remaining $120 and ran off, discarding the jacket fabric as he ran.

The second offence, taking place  in Warwick this past Saturday [Jan 8], involved the the theft of a laptop computer and a cellphone. The Prosecutor said that the female victim said that she had known Mr Salaam for fifteen years, had taken pity on him and had allowed him to stay at her house. The next day, she had gone off to work. A neighbor called her at work and reported that something strange was happening at her residence.

On returning home, the victim found her laptop and cellphone missing. The two items had a collective value of $1,760.

Mr Salaam was arrested on Monday 10th January and admitted to taking the two items. According to the Prosecutor, when questioned, Mr Salaam said that he could not remember what he had done with the laptop. However, the cellphone was returned after it had been found by a ‘third party’.

Before sentencing, Mr Salaam who was said to be of no fixed abode, had his past record referred to by the Prosecutor who described it as having a “significant number of convictions” with some including acts of violence.

Chief Magistrate Warner then remanded Mr Salaam into custody for sentencing on 28 February 2011 and also ordered a Social Inquiry Report, a psychiatric report, and a BARC report.

#CrimeInBermuda #MagistratesAndSupremeCourt

Category: All, Court Reports, Crime, News