Man who was allegedly found with items to ‘commit burglary’ remanded

A 50-year-old man with no fixed place of abode has been placed on remand at Her Majesty’s Prison after he was allegedly found with several items police suspect would have been used to commit a burglary.

Howard Hughes pleaded not guilty to the offence of ‘Going equipped to commit a burglary’ when he made a virtual appearance before Magistrate Christilyn Benjamin on Monday and again on Wednesday.

The unrepresented man, however, pleaded guilty to Breach of Curfew.

Allegations

The court heard that on April 2, the manager of Pusser’s Restaurant in Road Town secured the building by locking all the doors and windows on the premises.

On April 12, the said manager reportedly received information that ‘some items’ had been stolen from the establishment and were being sold.

After making inquiries with one of his employees he received confirmation that the premises had been burgled. A subsequent report was made to the police, who then launched an investigation into the matter.

Surveillance footage

The court heard that video footage extracted from surveillance cameras in the area allegedly showed what was believed to be the accused man carrying some items, wearing an orange shirt and a pair of black pants.

On the same date, police officers on mobile patrol saw the accused walking along the road in similar clothing while carrying a bag containing tools and other items.

He was accosted and informed him of the report. In response, the accused man indicated that he was not responsible and said he did not know what had happened. 

The court also heard that when he was asked whether he was an essential worker and had a curfew pass to be on the road. He replied that he was delivering some medication to a lady.

He was then taken into custody, searched and read his rights.

The search revealed that he had several items such as a hammer, a screwdriver, a knife, a metal rod, and a wrench.

As part of the investigations, police conducted an interview with the accused man on April 14, and he said, he usually passes through the Pussers and Bamboushay area in order to use the facilities there.

When the accused man was shown the surveillance footage, he said he did not recognize the person in the footage and explained that he had been in the area walking but could not recall the reason for being there.

Sentencing, remand 

After confirming that Hughes had no fixed place of abode and that no medication was in his bag, the court ordered that he be remanded.

That matter was then adjourned to June 4.

As for breaking the curfew, Hughes was sentenced to 10 days.

But because he was in custody at the Road Town Police Station for that period of time, Magistrate Benjamin said that will considered as ‘time already served’.