KINGSTON, Jamaica – A man who attempted to use his daughters to deter the magistrate from sending him to prison was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to grabbing a gold chain from a man’s neck.

Twenty-three-year-old Richardo Bartley from Beeston Street in Kingston, on Monday pleaded guilty to larceny from the servant in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court.

When he appeared in court, he told Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey that: “I have two daughters, mi get lay off. Mi baby mother ran weh,” he said.

“And you are running away from them now,” Pusey said.

“You know why I don’t listen to people and them children, the children were there before the crime. Don’t use them as excuse,” she added.

Reports are that approximately 8:00 am on September 22, the accused was walking in the vicinity of North Parade in downtown Kingston, when he reportedly grabbed a gold chain from the complainant’s neck and attempted to run.

He was subsequently accosted by the police and the gold chain recovered.

Racquel Porter