$16,000 fine for San Fernando perfume thief

A MAN who stole $36,740 worth of perfume was fined on Tuesday and also ordered to pay for some which was not recovered.

Adrian Ramlochan, 22, of Pleasantville, appeared in the San Fernando magistrates' court before senior magistrate Jo-Anne Connor, along with a teenager, charged with larceny of the items from C-Change Traders, Gulf City Mall, La Romaine.

The magistrate ordered the teen to appear in the Children's Court, Fyzabad, next Tuesday.

Ramlochan, who had been in custody since his arrest in October last year, pleaded guilty.

Police prosecutor Cleyon Seedan told Connor that th estore owner, Lynette Seedhan, opened the store on October 7, 2019, and discovered the perfume missing.

On his arrest, Seedan said, Ramlochan told police , "Boss, I take the thing to sell to buy things for meh child 'cause I have no work."

The magistrate heard that 20 bottles of men's and women's perfumes were recovered.

Attorney Sharmela Rampaul pleaded on Ramlochan's behalf that he had been in custody since October awaiting trial, and would obviously have contemplated his bad choice in capitalising on the opportunity to steal the perfume.

"Not that he's someone who steals, but he saw an opportunity," the attorney said.

Connor fined Ramlochan $4,000 and ordered him to pay $16,740 compensation to C-Change Traders, which represented the cost of the remaining bottles of perfume.

If he does not pay the fine, Ramlochan could serve four months, and in default of the compensation, six weeks' simple imprisonment.