A St Mary man on murder and wounding charges in St Ann was sentenced to six months imprisonment at hard labour for receiving stolen property.
The convicted man is Orando Coward, a farmer of Blackstonedge, St Ann.
Allegations are that between the January 22 and February 7, the female complainant left her home. When she returned on February 7, she discovered that her house was broken into and that several items were missing.
Among the items were a generator, a sound system, a computer, a Sony digital radio and a spray pan.
The woman made a report at the Gayle police station.
The police commenced investigations into the matter and Coward’s house was searched and several items matching the descriptions of those stolen from the woman were found.
The complainant was shown the items found and she identified some as belonging to her.
When the matter first appeared before the St Mary Parish Court on March 30, Coward was initially indicted on charges of housebreaking and larceny. To those charges, he had pleaded “guilty with explanation.”
Coward explained to the judge that a man by the name of ‘Bruce’ had given him the items to sell. He said that ‘Bruce’ had come to his house in a car with items and then later returned with more items for him to sell. However, he said that ‘Bruce’ never came back.
The prosecution later reduced the charges against Coward to receiving stolen property and Coward pleaded guilty to those charges.
He was remanded into custody until April 13 for sentencing.
However, on that date last month, a social enquiry report was ordered and the matter reset for sentencing on May 4.
At his sentencing last Thursday, senior parish judge Yvette Wentworth-Miller went through a lengthy social enquiry report as Coward waited to hear the verdict.
After her perusal of the report, the judge asked Coward how many children he had that depended on him for support. He said he had one child.
He was later asked if he had other matters before the courts.
Coward indicated that he had a murder and a wounding with intent matter in St Ann’s Bay (the St Ann Parish Court).
MURDER IN ST ANN
Sources to The Times indicate that that matter was a murder case that was published in February.
Coward was charged by the St Ann police for the Monday, February 6 murder of 28-year-old Alexander Robinson, popularly known as ‘Alex,’ who was a labourer and farmer.
Robinson was found stabbed to death on his employer’s property in Goshen on the St Ann side of the St Ann/St Mary border. He was allegedly stabbed while in pursuit of a robber, who was allegedly Orando Coward.
He is remanded into custody in St Ann on those charges.
NO PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS BUT…..
When Judge Wentworth-Miller further enquired of Coward if he had any previous convictions or fines, he said that he had none.
However the Judge asked him if he had a matter before the Half Way Tree Court in 2009 and another assault matter in 2010 for which he was fined $3,000.
Coward said that he did not remember, but he only recalled that he had pleaded guilty with explanation to one matter before the Half Way Tree Court and the judge had told him that he could go after the complainant did not want to continue with the matter.
The judge also asked him about a charge of housebreaking and Coward said that matter was “from five years ago.”
Coward was later sentenced to six months imprisonment at hard labour.
