By LEANDRA ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
lrolle@tribunemedia.net
A 38-YEAR-OLD man who stole nearly $2,000 worth of tools and cleaning supplies from University of The Bahamas last year was sentenced to six months in prison yesterday.
Ricardo Neely, a former employee at UB, was arrested after being accused of stealing $1,742 worth of items from the school, including a trimmer, hedger, two lawn rakes and a broom among other things.
Police said a staff member at the university reported the missing items to them last November.
The court was told Neely, who regularly cleaned the university’s property, was asked about the missing tools. Neely told staff members he took the tools and lent them to someone.
As a result, he was arrested.
During his hearing before Senior Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis, Neely pleaded guilty to one count of stealing.
He told the court he didn’t know he was breaching the school’s policy when he lent the items out and added he was unable to locate the person to whom he had lent the tools after falling sick days later.
“I did side jobs with the person, but I got swung… I learned from it and I regret it,” he said, while asking for the court’s leniency.
However, Magistrate Rolle-Davis told Neely even if he couldn’t find the items, he could have used his personal money to replace the equipment, adding he had enough time to do so.
The magistrate said that while he commended him for owning up to the offence from the onset, there was no excuse for his behaviour which he called “unacceptable”.
As a result, he sentenced Neely to six months at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services. Neely was also told he has a right to appeal the magistrate’s decision within seven days at the Supreme Court.
Malek Sawyer, 20, was also charged in court yesterday after he threatened to harm another man while at a local bar on February 6.
Sawyer, who owned up to the offence, told the court that he had no previous convictions and was sorry for his actions.
He also asked Magistrate Rolle-Davis for a second chance, explaining he was the sole breadwinner for his family and wanted to be present in his son’s life.
As a result, he was placed on six months’ probation and told failure to comply with conditions of his release would result in one month behind bars.
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