KINGSTON, Jamaica – A member of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) was dragged to court on Tuesday charged with stealing cellular phones from two other soldiers.

The man, Private Tafare Williams, was charged with the offence of simple larceny, to which he pleaded guilty.

Charged with Williams, another soldier Aquwayne Taylor, pleaded not guilty to two counts of simple larceny, two counts of conspiracy to steal, and one count of receiving stolen property. But, on the other count of receiving stolen property, Taylor pleaded guilty.

It was alleged that on August 3, sometime after 10:00 pm, the complainants plugged their phones into outlets inside the dormitory situated at Up Park Camp, in St Andrew, and went to sleep. Both were awakened by fellow soldiers who were complaining that their cellphones, cash and other items were missing.

After checking, it was reported that the complainants found their cellular phones also missing from their phone chargers, which were still plugged into the electrical outlets.

A white Apple iPhone X cellphone and a Samsung Galaxy A 12 cellphone, both valued at $40,000 were missing. The theft was reported to the police.

On Thursday August 11, a joint police military team located the Samsung A12 phone at a location in Half-Way-Tree, St Andrew. The phone was traced to a phone shop in the area.

It was revealed in court that after the police’s arrival at the shop, both Taylor and Williams were seen and accosted. Taylor was found to be using the sim card from the Samsung in his personal phone, and Williams was searched by the police and the iPhone was found in his possession. Both men were later questioned, arrested and charged.

A social inquiry and fingerprint order were made for both men. They are to return to court on November 7.