“YES, Lord. Ah going home. Thank you Lord.”That was the triumphant and repetitious refrain from 26-year-old mason Afiba Yankana of Hadfield Street, Wortmanville, after he was set free by Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan on a simple larceny charge.
Yankana was accused of stealing a $120,000 Samsung Galaxy S5 Smartphone from Derrick Hope. The alleged offence was said to have been committed on August 18 at Wortmanville, Georgetown.
On Wednesday, Yankana led his defence. According to him on the day in question he had just disembarked a Route 40 bus and was standing in front of a shop in Kitty with his grocery bag. He said that because of the weight, he left the bag in the shop and went to a nearby base to hire a taxi. He subsequently returned with the car and went home.
In the Magistrates’ Court, the taxi driver Dexter Millington said he drove the accused home after he stopped at the shop to pick up a bag. The taxi driver said that it took Yankana about six to seven minutes to retrieve the bag. He testified that he saw no phone.
According to the prosecution, Hope had parked his motorcycle outside a shop and left his cellphone and other items on his bike and went inside to make a quick purchase, but upon returning his phone was discovered missing. Yankana was the only other person who was observed around the shop at that time.
The chief magistrate while handing down her decision explained that the prosecution failed to establish its case against the accused. However, she warned Yankana that the penalty for the offence he was charged with attracted a fine of no less than $100,000 and five years in prison.
By Clestine Juan