PHILIPSBURG--A 17-year-old boy was convicted of handling stolen goods and theft with violence by the Court of First Instance. He was sentenced to eight months imprisonment and will be transferred to a youth detention facility in Bonaire.
On March 19, A.A.L. had attended an address on Ebenezer Road where he had appropriated a television which had been hidden in bushes outside the house, after which he had sold the item.
L. had initially been accused of the burglary of the television, but this could not be proven. L. admitted that he had gone into the garden and had taken the television from the bushes, but said he had been "forced" to commit the act by an older man. He declined to explain how exactly he had been forced.
A second charge against L. was the theft of a US $0.75 honey bun on February 27. The accused was alleged to have attended a supermarket where he regularly helps himself to items without paying. On this occasion, the Chinese owner of the store had followed L. out and grabbed back the bun, only to be assaulted by L. and another male.
The owner was stabbed in the face with an afro comb and punched repeatedly, and when his wife tried to intervene, she, too was punched and pushed. A cousin of L. was also said to be involved in the assault.
The accused claimed self-defence, stating he had been attacked by the owner. The accused showed an inappropriate amount of false confidence in court and was rude to the judge, loudly replying "repeat yourself" when he had not understood a question asked by the judge.
His attitude did not go unnoticed, although the judge remained very professional. The young man refused to take any responsibility for his actions, blaming them on others.
It came to light that L. had in the past been given a chance to better himself after another violent offence for which he received a suspended three-month sentence in September 2013, against the wishes of the prosecutor.
L. had refused to comply with demands from the probation service, which had been unable to contact him or his mother. He had not attended school, meetings, Alternatives against Violence Training and had not followed rules. He had also refused to do the last 36 hours of his unpaid work requirement as he had to work with garbage. "It's sticky, there are dead animals and it makes my skin break out," the young man gave as a reason.
The judge reminded him that his activities during his work requirement were not open for negotiation, that it was a punishment and that he was meant to do as he was told. It all seemed to fall on deaf ears.
The child, with a straight face, told the judge that the probation service had lied, as had the school when he had not attended. The only real emotion from the boy came as his mother was given a chance to speak.
Both parents attended, but it was obvious that they had no influence with the boy and the mother appeared to back up the boy in his reasoning. His lawyer pointed out that the boy was crying and asked him why, but he denied this was the case.
The boy's father made statements such as "we all do certain things when we grow up," and said that he would have to give his son more guidance.
At the end of the case, the judge said that they believed that the parents, within their capabilities, had done their best but that they could not give the boy sufficient guidance.
The prosecutor said that the accused has no respect for the belongings of others and no respect for other people. "A. only cares about himself." She demanded an eight-month imprisonment, under adult law, which she would arrange for him to serve in a youth detention facility in Bonaire.
Despite requests from his lawyer to give the youth another chance, and last words from the boy stating, "If I go to jail, I could die or come out worse," the judge, after stating that the prosecutor had had a better judgement when she opposed the boy's last chance on a previous occasion, sentenced him to eight months imprisonment and requested the boy be transferred to Bonaire as soon as possible.
In an unusual move, the judge, who stated that he was worried about the boy's development and that something had to happen with him, ordered that the boy be taken into detention immediately.
Youth Prosecutor Karola van Nie said that the boy would be transferred to the youth detention centre in Bonaire within a month. The Prosecutors Office has recently signed an agreement with Bonaire making the youth detention facility on the island available to youths in St. Maarten pending the opening of the local youth care facility.
