Rum thief thanks judge after sentencing

Edmund Charles of Roseau has been sent to prison for six months – a place he is said to be quite fond of.

He pleaded guilty to stealing a bottle of Gordon’s Dry Gin from Save A Lot supermarket yesterday.

“I see that you been doing the same thing since 1971, even before I was born… You need to stop that. It seems that you like Stockfarm so I’ll send you back,” Magistrate Candia George said before sentencing him at a Roseau Magistrate’s Court this morning.

After receiving his sentence Charles enthusiastically told the magistrate “thank you very much Your Worship”.

According to the facts of the case which were presented by the police prosecutor, Charles stole the alcoholic beverage at approximately 3:40 p.m. He placed the bottle under his shirt then attempted to leave the store. The security guard intercepted him after being alerted.

When police confronted him and told him that he was going to be arrested, Charles said, “Check your seen officer. I have no problem with that. They make your work much easier.”

The Gin was valued at $46. It was restored to the owner.

According to the magistrate Charles has a lengthy record of theft offenses.

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56 Comments

  1. regrettte
    September 26, 2010

    What are the social programs available for such guys in Dominica? There is indeed an increase in criminal activity in Dominica and thats a fact. Its is so so sad and shameful to see and hear these things happening. There seems to be a tide of desperation due to social pressure. I mean the magistrate got no choice to send the guy packing to stockfarm but indeed he will be out one day. What are the plans of the government – plans to addresss the spate of crime in Dominica. Its a whole talk shop based on reactivism and emotion – coming from all directions – but is there a plan to arrest the crime situation. Minsiter of National security should be making some big statements. Getting things in place to deal with the crime. One of the solutions: jobs jobs, jobs, jobs and more jobs- when people are broken and dirt broke – unfortunately they will commit crimes…………
    Please note that the writer is not for any government – but for country and democracy….

  2. Observer
    September 25, 2010

    Don’t Roseau need some cleaning?, send these people to clean the city, enough of the nonesense.

  3. September 24, 2010

    that is so true.. All the murderers are walking free..i wonder why? hmmmm

  4. September 24, 2010

    hahah..this is so funny..the man knows that his three meals are sure at the prison..first time i see a man so excited about going to jail..I guess jail is his way of life..

  5. lol
    September 24, 2010

    @mr untouchable: maybe de man have his man up dr to *** him…lol

  6. TAKE NOTE
    September 24, 2010

    PRECIOUS made another valid point! The supermarket restored the bottle of rum! Once again the guy needs essential tools and without it, he will not be a productive citizen in society!

  7. TAKE NOTE
    September 24, 2010

    I am in agreement with JWH and Disapointed. This man clearly has no skills and is a repeated offender. He will go to Stockfarm and come out doing the same thing and that is due to him lacking the essentials tools that he so desperately needs! What about community service? What about a program? He clearly needs help!

  8. September 24, 2010

    6 months in jail to sit get fat on tax payers dime. Like many voice he along with many others should be sentenced to community service. these people are constantly taking and making no contribution to society. once a month they should be out and about cleaning up the place doing something constructive. we do need prison reform this system is just ridiculous. this man is basically doing what he has done all his life it is what he knows and unless someone steps in to offer so help and guidance he will continue down the same path.

  9. Unbalanced punishment
    September 24, 2010

    From what i read, the bottle of rum was taken from the man at the supermarket by the security guard. DNO stated :”Charles stole the alcoholic beverage at approximately 3:40 p.m. He placed the bottle under his shirt then attempted to leave the store. The security guard intercepted him after being alerted”. So does this mean that he stole the bottle of rum? My answer is no he attempted to steal and did not even leave the premises with the rum. I think that the magistrate must over turn this sentence. This sentence is steep

  10. JWH
    September 24, 2010

    I am saddened by how vindictive your respondents are. He returns to Stockfarm and is content to do so. Have your respondents ever lived at Stockfarm? I have only visited, but I assure you that the prospect of being sent to Stockfarm is a horrible one in my mind. If Stockfarm is the best plan this fellow has believe me, he has no good choices. We will not make him want to be outside unless we give him the skills and vision that his life can be better outside. Can he make a living outside? Does he know how? Can he be taught? Will people welcome him back? He did very little harm, so I think that the anger and meanness of the responses should be saved for the people who injure their neighbors with cutlasses or guns. This fellow is simply trying to survive with the tools he has available to him.

  11. LYCAN CASIMIR
    September 24, 2010

    It looks like stockfarm is a resort or a retirement home, de man happy to go there…lol

  12. Nathaniel Peltier
    September 24, 2010

    I suspect stock farm is the place to be. No one is afraid of going up there anymore. Vacation, an all inclusive holiday it seems.
    We need to get tougher with the sentencing in Da our laws are being trampled on from the higher level downward. No one cares. As our top cop says some people in the system have to shake up.

  13. oh my!
    September 24, 2010

    Every time i read about someone stealing, the judge always sentence them to jail time; however, the murderers appear to be always walking free. hmm.

  14. Envar
    September 24, 2010

    This guy has records since 1971, this guy is due for retirement from the thieving department. What does skeritt has to do with that issue?.. i also agree that the system is a total ….. They send they guys hard labour and all they do is plan crimes all day.

    The government have to house and feed them and still yet the government has to spend millions per year to buy food for the prison and the hospital, all vegetables and meet for the infirmary, hospital, police kitchen, should be provided by the inmates. All the drains in roseau should be given a general cleanup every 3 months by the inmates.. All the bushes by the sides of the roads, those that block the drains and hang over the roads. The beaches the riversides.

    All them guys do is get fat and sleep and read interesting literature.

    On another note, if Dominica, or the caribbean was a place where politicians and rich people used to go to jail the conditions there would be alot better…. i do not know, i do not see the catch to it, i do not know what that p there dem guys like so much… a dog would not want to stay up there… its a shame…

    THERE MUST BE PRISON REFORM……………

  15. mr untouchable
    September 23, 2010

    woooooaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!! lolololollol happy to go back jail?? hmmmmmmm i wanna kno y he like up there.

  16. JS
    September 23, 2010

    The police commissioner(Ag) needs to start at home.

  17. KOKAY THERE
    September 23, 2010

    @DAMNASS: lol you have the right name i dont even have to call you that.

  18. possie
    September 23, 2010

    d boy remind me of jackeyebos he want to go to jail for food or mabe he know
    that guy that kill the man in possie going up soon so he going to wait for boy fix him up for us

  19. Angelic
    September 23, 2010

    I just can’t stop laughing he really likes the prison maybe his sentence should hv been a little harder.he needs some hard labour..lol lol he not easy

  20. King ghetto
    September 23, 2010

    @DAMNASS: You are just the last three letters of your name.

  21. Disturbed
    September 23, 2010

    It’s unfortunate that Dominca Law is the way it is.. Sending someone to Jail for 6 months while he is being fed on daily basis does no good cause to society or to the economy. She should have given him community service with hard labor – cutting down bushes, picking up trash around the dominica…

  22. Rum
    September 23, 2010

    What do you do with somebody like that. The guy is going to holiday in karapano at tax payers expense for a $40 bottle of rum. Man some people got it made. We talking about cleaning up on community day of service. What about having people who commit those peccadillo clean up the streets, Cut the grass along the main roads.

  23. Wil
    September 23, 2010

    6 Months for a $46 liquor. Well well well. I don’t want to say the punishment is too hard, but what I would hope is that they would be proportionately on others for violence which cause bodily harm and death. A man stabbed a another, almost killed him, and he had the option of $1600 OR 3 months in prison, if I recall well. Another man cut out a man hand, he had the OPTION of paying $6000 OR 3 years in jail. Let’s look at some mathematical comparisons: i) I assume that man’s hand is worth $6000 (he will not be able to use his hand again from what I understand). So that man hand is worth about 134 bottles of that liquor. ii) Maybe the man that cut his hand should spend 6 months x 134 = 804 months = 67 yrs in stocky! Now he has the option of getting only 3 yrs. Hmmm, a dan good deal…this is just numerical comparisons, I know there is more that goes into the punishment.

  24. Wow
    September 23, 2010

    Seems like this dude enjoys being in there more than anywhere else. Guess next time he’ll go make his mark because he got a lot of rope.

  25. notnice
    September 23, 2010

    lol, this has to be a joke the media posted. 6 mos. for a bottle of alcohol, i would
    laugh at the judge too. That man should be sent on his merry way, let’s prosecute the
    more dangerous criminals that’s out there making our island look bad

  26. Dizzie
    September 23, 2010

    Wow , this is a joke. Man going jail for 6 months for stealing a bottle of gin worth $46 dollars and others committing murder,selling drugs and getting released on bail. This is crazy…

  27. Anonymous
    September 23, 2010

    GOind to stock fram does nothing good for people like that can’t we see that doing community service would do so better than this sentence.

  28. YOU
    September 23, 2010

    @DAMNASS He has more than that boy…

  29. Jepter
    September 23, 2010

    @DAMNASS: your name says it all

  30. mouth of the south
    September 23, 2010

    i wanna see how much time dey gonna give the man dat do d killing in possie,,,,,yah i wanna see,,,,,but it seems the judge wanted us to know how old she is man,,,,,know the media will cover dat story,,,,,,,the economics doh make sense 6mths for $46 dollar worth,,,,that was returned to the store owner,,,, weh papa,,,, well since she sentence him so harsh which he still loves,,, i would like candia to take up the case in possie n give dat killer a very harsh sentence,,,,,,maybe life in solitary confinement,,,,,,,,

  31. Worried
    September 23, 2010

    I, for am, feel that what we need is a ‘half way house’. The ‘residents’ would be under supervision and made to go out to ‘work’ daily for their keep as part of the sentence. Prison is not always the answer for some of those petty crimes.

    It costs taxpayers much too much to feed & house them, while the taxpayers get nothing in return. Have them clean the the roadside (country wide), collect the garbage that is thrown on the roadside and take it to the landfill. Beautification of our dear Nature Isle for us first, and others after,

    Mind you I am not condoning the fact that folks carelessly, and willingly, throw garbage all over the place. We need to take greater pride in ourselves and our country.

  32. September 23, 2010

    @Anonymous: we can’t talk about Edison .Is skerrit that there .

  33. Jahangel
    September 23, 2010

    @DAMNASS: what does the Pm have to do with a man going to jail for stealing rum. and when. U must have been the one handing over the money to him cause u seem to know. Further maybe u haters need to take a look back at the past PM and the extent of damage they did to our country and stop hating on a PM who is actually DOING for Dominica! AND YES I can start naming stuff this PM has done and is doing so come correct when u coming.

  34. Anonymous
    September 23, 2010

    Can we breath, think, sleep, or even eat without mentioning Skerrit’s name. what does one have to do with the other.

  35. lol
    September 23, 2010

    “thank you very much Your Worship”. LOL The man well happy to go jail.. he need a harder punishment man.

  36. well sa
    September 23, 2010

    Community service will not help this man I would make a black box with one hole and put him in there for the six months with no food or water. Let’s see what he says after that!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mr is a wicked man!!!

  37. Watcher
    September 23, 2010

    @DAMNASS: Where does the PM fit in there??????

  38. RC
    September 23, 2010

    Isn’t acting Commissioner Carrette right in submitting that the judiciiary is not assisting with fighting crime. The judges who set murders on bail must see thattheir action will not after them,but is rather living withthem. Our scoeity is just broken. Is Candia carrette George a relative of the Commissioner?

  39. Charmer
    September 23, 2010

    Going stockfarm is like going on vacation, no work, no bills, no worry about next meal. The law is to lenient.

  40. September 23, 2010

    So what do we about people with such an attitude. Sending them to prison is not the answer. They are not ashamed of it, that their shame will hold them against committing another crime when they are out of prison. It is apparent that prison term is not a pain or suffering to those people, so they receive no punishment that way.

    Jesus said: “If your right eye cause you to sin pluck it out, or if your right hand causes you to sin cut it out”. It is obvious that those people are willfully committing sins, that is a nuisance to society, and they take pleasure in committing those sins. Their sentence of imprisonment is a just a joke to them. And yet, it is not fair to just let them go free, after their willful and mischievous conduct.

    Is it possible that there is a way that those mischievous people can suffer some form of pain for the affliction that they cause to the rest of us? I call that kind of conduct mischief, because those people are well aware that what they are doing is wrong, but they continue to do it anyway, as they make fun of authority and those who want them to exercise self-control or good behaviour.

    If this man knew that he would suffer the loss of a finger and toe from the hands and feet that he used to walk to those places and to steal those items from the self, without an anesthetic, instead of a prison term, would he continue to do this mischief for that past 39 years? Would he be saying thank you to the Judge, if she had told him, he was about to lose another finger and toe, with his eyes wide open and his sense of feeling in full function?

    O dear God, I know that nothing is impossible for You to do. You, O God, can see the conduct of human beings, You can hear our words of demonic expressions, and You know the attitude in our heart, which is as hard as stone.

    Dear God, Satan has bound our minds with a massive twine of ignorance, that we do not understand that You will one day come with a wrath that no one will be able to sustain. But You, my God, have a selected a people, and because of those people, the days of your wrath will be shortened.

    Let Your Will be done O God; let Your mercy reign for those who deserve mercy and forgiveness, but let Your Justice prevail with fairness as it must be done. By Your power and authority let wisdom reign in the minds of those You have called to lead us in this earthly existence. Teach them dear God, how to deal fairly, with those who willfully oppress us in our societies and our communities. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

  41. JB
    September 23, 2010

    @Piper: am just there thinking the same thing,

  42. Serene
    September 23, 2010

    He should be sentenced to do some community work; he seems to love stock farm; he didn’t resist arrest, its evident that he is happy to be arrested and taken back to his favorite place

    Lord help us all

  43. disappointed
    September 23, 2010

    petty crimes like that should not be punished with jail sentence. Not At All. The man well happy he going Stockfarm to get a break to plan how to steal better. The man should be given community work to do, daily, e.g, clean toilets, of the same prison, after he finish give him a task work to do like cleaning the gutters on the highway from Roseau to Portsmouth, make sure his work start at 6 and end at 6 everyday for six month, or have him make a coat pit to make coals, clean a beach, cut wood to make coals, make a few lettuce bed and plant it, and when the lettuce ready make him reap it and take it to the hospitals, infirmary etc, things so these kinds of crime should be punished with, not sending the man stockfarm to rest and eat, and take nice hair cut, and come out shinning like gold. That is just too ridiculous with them fellers there and also those kind of jokes those magistrate making with them fellers, should not be either. These kinds of people need a program to follow as part of their punishment as well, This guy is a seasoned VOLER, as he come from prison he stealing again.

  44. precious
    September 23, 2010

    dominica laws a messed up.. only one set that going jail.. first time i see a place like that one when commit murder u set free and when u steal they sending up stockfarm.. that judge there does she know wat she about… the supermarket restore the bottle of gin.. charge the guy for theft don’t send him jail for 6 months.. common now.. tha tis ridiculous…

  45. T. Winston
    September 23, 2010

    wtf nuh it doh have 3 strikes in dat country man
    all offences getting treated like the 1st?

  46. ROCKSY
    September 23, 2010

    She should sentence him to 6 months with HARD LABOUR!!!!!!!!!

  47. Anonymous
    September 23, 2010

    the law seem to be coming a joke to many these days……..maybe some more restriction is much needed

  48. September 23, 2010

    he need to some hard labour. and that will make him think for a moment.

  49. Lok kix
    September 23, 2010

    “Thank you very much your worship”. I would send you up stockfarm and starve you. Let me see if you would be happy to go back up there.

  50. hmmph
    September 23, 2010

    They can send him jail but give him dry bread n water once a day.. lets see if he will steal again. and if he steal after that, take out his fingers one by one..he will never touch wat is not his again.

  51. lol
    September 23, 2010

    all doe c de man well happy to go stocky…lmfao

  52. DAMNASS
    September 23, 2010

    DE MAN GOT 6 MONTHS FOR STEALING A BOTTLE OF GIN VALUED AT $46. I WONDER HOW MUCH WILL SKERRIT GET WHEN THEY DISCOVER HIS NET WORTH IS OVER 30 MILLION, I NOT GOOD AT MATH. I HOPE SOMEONE CAN HELP ME.

    • Truer
      October 24, 2011

      You really are what your name says

  53. Piper
    September 23, 2010

    So the magistrate sentenced him to Stock Farm so that the government will spend $5000 to feed and house him on account of a $46 bottle of gin? Yes I.

  54. Dominican people
    September 23, 2010

    All you not seeing Mr. was happy 2 go stocky because he knows that is hour tax money he gonna eat up there. His food (pwae whosg n jelle’ coshou) going 2 always be ready for him.

  55. JB
    September 23, 2010

    maybe in prison meal, sleep is sure. he’s just eating tax payers money, send and do some community service

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