A 54-year-old man who allegedly stole a safe that contained two firearms and other valuables worth over $18,000 has been remanded to HMP Dodds.
Edward Dacosta Cumberbatch, of no fixed place of abode, was not required to plead to the charge that he entered Benny Rowe’s house as a trespasser sometime between September 21 and 22 and made away with the $600 safe, two firearms valued at $10,000, a quantity of jewelry worth $2,000, BDS$4,840 and US$300 in cash belonging to the homeowner, as well as a $125 passport.
“I don’t know nothing about that . . . . Look at me, I look like I could carry a safe?” Cumberbatch asked, making reference to his small stature.
Although his comment caused some chuckles in court, Station Sergeant Neville Reid made it clear that the offence was so serious that Cumberbatch should not be granted bail.
The prosecutor told Magistrate Douglas Frederick that the accused man’s prior convictions showed he had a propensity to commit similar offences.
“Other persons are also being sought in this investigation and, if granted bail, the accused may interfere and frustrate [its] progress,” Reid said, adding that efforts were still ongoing to recover the stolen property, including the firearms.
The prosecutor also objected to bail on the grounds that Cumberbatch had several matters pending before the court.
However, in his application for his release, the accused man was adamant that he knew nothing about any guns or a safe.
“I was part and parcel of those people that got the gun and the money. I is who take them and show them who is the people, [but] I ain’t got no gun, no money,” he said.
It was at that point that Fredrick ordered Cumberbatch to stop speaking, as he had already put ‘his foot in his mouth’.
Cumberbatch was remanded to prison until October 24.
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