A 33-year-old plantain-chip vendor will be spending the new year behind bars after he was on Wednesday sentenced to three years imprisonment for stealing a firearm from a Sheriff Security Guard on Christmas Day.

Mawali Clarke, of Section ‘D’, Turkeyen was hauled before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court where he admitted stealing a 12-gauge shotgun and three cartridges of ammunition worth $353,000 from one Toussaint Williams.

The incident occurred on Christmas Day at Bel Air Avenue, Georgetown.
According to the facts of the case, Clarke and Williams are known to each other, and on the day in question, the latter was on duty at the Bel Air Avenue residence when he saw Clarke vomiting.

Williams quickly came to Clarke’s aid, and after allowing him into the yard, he then went to get some water so he could clean himself off.

In the confusion, he inadvertently left his service weapon behind, whereupon Clarke picked it up and made good his escape. The matter was reported to the police, and Clarke was later arrested.
Under caution, Clarke admitted stealing the firearm and took police to an area in Plum Park, Sophia, where he’d hidden it in a clump of bushes.

In his address to the court, Clarke said he’d only stolen the firearm because he wanted to teach Williams a lesson, for being “unprofessional and careless” with his service weapon.

“I know it was something of value, and I needed money at that point in time,” Clarke told the Chief Magistrate as she handed down the sentence.

In 2017, Clarke was charged with two counts of armed robbery, to which he’d pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine each, with a default imprisonment of six months.