Rico Ricardo Grazette will spend the next 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to robbing a man of inhalers, toiletries and a charger.
The 25-year-old, of Greenfield, appeared before the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court and admitted to robbing Uriah Smith of three boxes of inhalers valued at $90, a $50 charger, $13 worth of toiletries and $20 on August 25.
Constable Troy Tudor told the court that a man known to Smith approached him, demanding something from him before attempting to remove Smith’s mobile phone from his pocket. He pushed away the man who left the area and returned later with Grazette.
An altercation then ensued between Smith and Grazette, during which the accused armed himself with a knife and made several attempts to stab Smith, while the other man punched him in the face. In the melee, Smith dropped his shopping bag, and Grazette picked it up before leaving the area with the other man.
Agreeing with the facts, Grazette told the court: “I was moving with this fella Sweet Life. I just land there, and I see he hold onto the man and start cuffing [him], and I say, ‘wait just so?’ I back off and say, ‘I can’t get involved in this ’. And then there was a big commotion with them fighting. Quick so, I see toothpaste and things scatter ‘bout, and I left the scene.”
He told Magistrate Jared Richards that he did not take any of the items with him.
“So why then did you plead guilty?” the magistrate asked.
He replied: “Because I was there and I want this hurry up and done with ‘cause I got a work goin’ on for me cutting grass, and I don’t want to lose it. I throwing myself at the mercy of the court.”
Magistrate Richards said: “Why would the man get you charged? This is not making any sense. If you did not do this, you would have come and said: ‘Sir, I did not put my hands on this man and I didn’t carry way nothin’. You would not have come and pleaded guilty and said that you accepted the facts as read by the prosecutor.”
Pointing to Grazette’s previous convictions for robbery, the magistrate sentenced him to jail time.
The court was then informed that Grazette, who is on bail from another court, had been missing there since May.
“Yes, I missed the date, but I tell wunna I working,” he said.
“You are taking the system for a joke. So for now, sweet life done,” Richards said as Grazette was led from the dock.
(JB)
