A 20-year-old man who was dragged to court for robbing a Kingston bar has claimed that he was forced to commit the act by a group of acid-wielding gay men.

The man, Malik Hepburn, pleaded guilty to simple larceny when he appeared in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court last week.

During the proceedings, Hepburn admitted that he stole 16 bottles of rum, one crate of Dragon and one bottle of Hennessy from the bar.

However, he told the presiding judge, Lori-Ann Cole-Montague that “I was forced by five gays. Dem did have acid with dem and dem forced me.”

“Who are these people? You know them?” Cole-Montague asked.

“Yes, Your Honour,” Hepburn answered, then proceeded to tell the judge that he knew the men from the area where the bar is situated.

“So how you and them manage to cross paths?” the judge asked again.

“The night I was at the bar… the bar did just lock and then dem force me fi go in a di bar,” he explained. “You see, one a dem did rob the man [the bar owner] already.”

When the judge asked if he had ever been to court for any other offence, Hepburn answered, “No, Miss judge.”

“I like the fact that you didn’t waste my time… but this is a lot [that you] stole,” Cole-Montague stated.

A fingerprint order was made for him, as well as a community report. He was also ordered to return to court on April 6 for sentencing.

“We’ll talk some more. You are remanded until that time, it’s not too far,” Cole-Montague said.