THERE was high drama inside the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court last Friday when a university student testified that the man who stole her phone told her to give him “a little piece” and to spend the night in exchange for the return of her iPhone 4s.

Thirty-eight-year-old Nigel Henclewood of South Avenue and his accomplice, 24-year-old Massara Williams of North Arena, both in Kingston 3, were before the court for reportedly trying to extort money and sex from the complainant in exchange for the return of her expensive phone.

The men were held in a sting operation on November 8, sometime after 4:00 pm at a wholesale in Cross Roads in Kingston and subsequently charged with larceny from the person and possession of an offensive weapon.

On Friday, when the men appeared before Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey, Henclewood pleaded guilty to the charge, while Williams pleaded not guilty.

Henclewood told the court that he operates a food stall by the Physics Department on the University of the West Indies, Mona campus in Kingston and that he found the phone under a chair under a tree.

However, the complainant told the court that her phone, which is valued at $70,000, was stolen from a booth at Taylor Hall during a beauty show on November 6.

The complainant said that when she realised that the phone was missing she called the number several times without any success.

Later that evening, the complainant said she called the number again and a man answered.

“I asked him if he could return my phone and he said, ‘Yuh affi go give me something, ’cause it is an expensive phone’,” she said.

The complainant said that upon realising that the man wanted money, she asked him how much he wanted and he told her $15,000.

“I told him that I did not have that amount of money and that I only had $10,000 and he said ‘OK’ and that I could meet him at Excelsior Community College in Mountain View for the phone,” she said.

But the complainant said she told him that she was not from Kingston and did not want to go out in the night, as she did not know the area. She told him, instead, to meet her at Mother’s in Cross Roads.

The complainant said she then contacted the police and reported the matter and they told her not to meet him at that time and planned a sting operation.

“I called him back and told him that I only had $8,000 and he said, ‘mi doan wah put yuh through nuh problem fi borrow nuh money’,” she said.

The complainant said the man continued by saying, ‘Mi nuh wah put yuh through nuh stress, you can give me a little piece and you can sleep over and spend the night.’

“I was so upset when he said that but I did not let him know and I told him, ‘there is no way I am going to have sex with you to get back my phone’,” she said.

A meeting was then arranged for the following day in Cross Roads in a wholesale.

She said when she got there she saw three men and one of them touched her and told her that he had her phone. The complainant said she asked him to show her the phone as she had the money in her purse and he said she should not worry. But the other men urged him to hand over the phone.

She said she was counting out the money when the police came in and one of the men ran.

After the complainant finished giving her account of the incident, the magistrate ruled that Henclewood should instead be charged with extortion and simple larceny.

She also gave instruction for Williams to be charged with accessory to the fact since he was there telling Henclewood to hand over the phone.

But Williams, in his defence, said, “Me neva know ’bout the phone stuff, a go me a go ’bout me business and him ask me fi follow him go collect a ting a Cross Roads.”

“Me neva know bout nuh transaction,” he insisted.

The magistrate was extending Williams’ bail when Henclewood butted in, claiming he wanted to set the record straight about some of the utterances made by the complainant.

“Me jus’ waan clarify wah she seh; A she was the person who offer me money,” he said.

However, he was silenced by the magistrate, who told him, “The amount of things you ask for I wouldn’t bother to clarify that.”

He was then remanded and is to return to court on Monday, November 17.

Man bites woman after stealing her gold chain

A man who robbed a woman of her gold chain and then bit her on her hand claimed he was only defending himself after the woman hit him with a piece of board, damaging his eardrum.

“A she slap mi cross mi ear, me neva a hear outta da ear yah,” the accused, Andrew Daley, said, pointing to one of his ears.

“If you carry mi go doctor go check it now yuh si seh mi nah hear outta it,” he said.

But the complainant denied hitting Daley.

“Where would I get board from?” she asked.

She then explained that she was crossing the road in front of York Pharmacy in Half-Way-Tree with her Caucasian friend when someone grabbed her chain from off her neck.

“He ran across the road and was laughing at me from across the road and I ran after him,” she said.

The complainant said Daley ran through Mandela Park and went to the back of the park by the taxi stand. While there she said someone informed her that he went inside a bus and she followed him and told the conductor that he stole her chain.

She said the conductor and other people held him and he started shouting out that he did not steal her chain and saying, “Search me! Search me!”

They let him go and he got out of the bus.

“I went behind him and held onto him and told him to give me my chain and he bit me on my right hand and ran off,” she said, adding that she was later informed that the police had caught him.

However, Daley insisted that he did not steal the chain and that she was the one who attacked him.

“Ah mi uncle mi a go link and mi ah walk and only to see dis girl just spin and appear before me and bare knives and man a drape me up and me go sit inna de bus and she use de board and gi me one slap cross me ears,” he insisted.

“So why you plead guilty?” the magistrate asked.

“Ah di first mi a come court,” he said.

The complainant told the court that she was certain that Daley was the person who stole her chain.

“From the time he stole your chain to the time that he was held you were chasing him?” RM Pusey asked.

“Yes, your honour,” she answered.

“And blood was in his teeth when the police held him,” she added.

While the complainant was speaking, her mother informed the court that Daley had made a threatening sign at her daughter from the cell dock, gesticulating with his hand to suggest that he was going to cut her throat.

“Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!” Daley shouted out before he was remanded for sentencing on Monday, November 17.

Suspected robber bolts from police station

A Kingston higgler who reportedly ran from a police station after he was accosted on reasonable suspicion of robbery with aggravation was denied bail.

Kevin Kirkpatrick, 27, of Pink Lane, was remanded on a charge of escaping police custody when he appeared in court on Friday.

According to the police report, on April 26, Kirkpatrick and a woman, Kendjah Heartley, held up a woman and robbed her of a gold chain in Coronation Market in downtown Kingston.

On October 8, Kirkpatrick reported to the Denham Town Police Station in keeping with the terms of his bail on another charge. While there he was accosted by a police officer who informed him of the allegations and took him inside a Criminal Investigation Branch office to be interviewed.

The police further reported that Kirkpatrick bolted from the room and used the back gate of the police station onto the road where he was chased and held by police officers and subsequently charged with escaping police custody.

However, the accused denied the reports.

“I went there to report and dem tell mi seh dem waan put mi pon ID parade,” he said. “I wouldn’t do that.”

“You’re sure the police weren’t chasing you?” the magistrate asked.

“Yes,” he answered.

His lawyer, Diane Jobson, then told the court that based on the instructions she received, her client was never chased by the police as he did not run from the station.

Kirkpatrick was, however, remanded and is to return to court on December 2.