'Hunger led me to thief from Regent Street house' - Court hears

‘Hunger led me to thief from Regent Street house’ – Court hears

Nov 28, 2023 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Kaieteur News – A vagrant of Bourda Market, Georgetown, was on Monday sentenced to 18 months in prison when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court and admitted to stealing over $1 million in items from a woman.

Vagrant jailed, Mark Birch

Mark Birch, 41, made his first court appearance on Monday at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Magistrate Rondell Weever, where the charge was read to him. He pleaded guilty with an explanation. He was charged with the offence of break-and-enter and larceny. The defendant explained to the magistrate that he was down with the flu and became hungry, which led him to steal the items.

The man is accused of breaking into and entering the home of Hazel Thompson, along with others and stealing $400,000 in shoes, $500,000 in clothes, a TCL brand television set valued $100,000, and a microwave valued $50,000, all totaling the $1,050,000.

According to police, Thompson departed Guyana between November 17 and November 20, 2023 for the United States of America, leaving her daughter in charge of her house located at Regent Street, Georgetown.

The police related that on November 17,2023 at about 19:00hrs, the victim’s son-in-law visited and secured the said property with everything intact. However, on November 20,2023 around 16:20hrs, he returned and observed three window panes on the eastern side of the building removed.

When he entered the property, the house was reportedly ransacked. He made further checks in the house and discovered that several items were missing. A report was made to the police and an investigation was launched. Ranks later obtained surveillance footage from the residence exposing Birch and two other males breaking into the house. In court on Monday, the accused told the magistrate that he only stole the microwave. He then pleaded with the court for bail in a reasonable sum.

The prosecutor however, objected, highlighting to the court that the defendant led ranks to a location where the television set was recovered but the other items that were listed as stolen are yet to be found. Adding to that, it was also mentioned that the accused has a history of stealing and he was previously convicted and jailed for six months on a larceny charge.