BVI News

‘Temptation got me’ | Serial thief slapped with 4 years in prison

“A little temptation got hold of me” — Damien Farrell

A Long Look man will spend the next four years at Her Majesty’s Prison for stealing from tourists at Long Bay Beach on Beef Island last year.

Damien Farrell pleaded guilty to three counts of theft when he appeared before Magistrate Ayanna Baptiste-DaBreo on Tuesday.

In handing down her sentence, Magistrate DaBreo noted his long history of stealing and the fact that he stole substantial amounts of cash from other people’s vehicles.

She said the aggravating factors clearly outweighed the mitigating ones. As such, she imposed a 16-month custodial sentence for each count.

For the first count of theft, Farrell was ordered to repay the $800 he stole. In default of not repaying, he will spend an additional two months in prison.

Farrel was ordered to repay the $65 he stole in the second matter. Not repaying comes with a default prison sentence of seven days. He was also ordered to repay $878 for the $1,320 in Canadian currency he took. An additional four months will be added to his sentence if he fails to repay the sum.

All his sentences are to run consecutively (one after the other).

What happened

The court heard that Farrell entered two unlocked vehicles while their owners were at the beach.

On December 1 last year, the complainant left his wallet containing $800 along with his camera bag in his unlocked vehicle and proceeded to the beach on Beef Island.

On his return, he noticed that the driver’s seat was tampered with and his wallet was not in the cup holder where he left it. A search of the vehicle uncovered the empty wallet stashed in the camera bag.

A report was made to the East End Police Station. Police launched an investigation and Farrell was subsequently arrested and charged.

During a police interview, Farrell confessed to stealing the money and said used it to party and to purchase clothes and shoes.

Second incident

The court heard that days later on December 10, Farrell was at the same beach where he entered another rented car belonging to two female tourists.

Like before, the vehicles were unlocked and the complainants had left their purses containing $65, some $800, and Canadian $1,320.

A subsequent report was made to police. During their investigations, police lifted fingerprints belonging to Farrell from the complainant’s purses. He was subsequently arrested and charged.

In court, Farrell said he tore the Canadian notes into bits and discarded it after he was told that it could not be changed to US currency in the BVI.

I got tempted

Pleading to the court for leniency, Farrell said he took the funds because he was going through a tough time after Hurricane Irma.

“A little temptation got hold of me,” he said.

Magistrate DaBreo told Farrell that she gave him numerous chances to rehabilitate himself in the past. “You are not learning. You don’t think after Hurricane Irma we all went through tough times?” she asked.

Farrell was unrepresented.

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9 Comments

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  1. Tourist says:

    Why would you leave your wallet/purse in the car and not lock it up? That is just stupid.

    Doesn’t give anyone the right to take it, but use some common sense.

    Like 19
    Dislike 5
    • tourist says:

      They should be able to leave whatever they want in their car! It’s not his own to go pick up!
      It’s okay to leave your wallet at home, in YOUR house and someone come pick it up because your front door unlock????

      Like 11
  2. 2 Grand says:

    wow!!! Lol smh lmao ” a little temptation got hold of me ” really? hands stickier than krazy glue. my friend that’s not temptation that habitual leading to a custodial sentence.

  3. Jesus HELP says:

    This young man needs deliverance.

  4. Reply says:

    Stealing from a tourist amounts to stealing from the treasury.

    I’m tired of reading about these thieves. He deserves this custodial sentence.

    Two breaking and entering is not a “little temptation’. It’s a pattern.

    He thought he got away the first time, and went back to the beach, the scene of the first crime, to stake out another victim. If he was not caught, he probably would have done it again.

    It would come as no surprise to learn he probably stole before. His post hurricane “tough time” is just a convenient excuse.

    Lock his @ss up. He is a repeat offender.

    Hope he learn something of value while in jail so that when he gets out he can make an honest living.

    Like 10
  5. tourist says:

    They should be able to leave whatever they want in their car! It’s not his own to go pick up!
    It’s okay to leave your wallet at home, in YOUR house and someone come pick it up because your front door unlock????

  6. soso says:

    The sad thing is, they only see these Caucasians as tourist, those who come from the other Caribbean islands and vacation and do spend alot of monies here, they dont regard them as tourist.

  7. Really says:

    so he never been tempted to find a job.

    Like 11
  8. Yingg says:

    Jammy ain’t tired merson!? Wtf I seeing here..
    Panna been doing this from since he was VG
    Is like he dohn f–kin learn tho, so that’s good for he..
    Should a been more than 4yrs he get for the bun ah thiefing he do throughout he lifetime

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