A St James man and woman have found themselves in a legal predicament after being accused of making unauthorised withdrawals of United States currency from an automated teller machine (ATM) using a debit card that did not belong to them.

Barrington Mitchell and Shantel Pinnock appeared before presiding judge Kaysha Grant-Pryce the St James Parish Court, for the first time last Wednesday, charged with possession of access device, and using access device to cause money to be transported from outside of Jamaica to a place inside of Jamaica.

According to court documents, on December 15 the two were observed withdrawing US dollars from an ATM at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, St James.

They were reportedly behaving in a manner which aroused the suspicion of a member of the security forces.

The law enforcement officer approached the two and noticed that they were in possession of a Walmart Visa debit card with the name Aaliyah Delfi.

They were also found in possession of a ZTE mobile phone, which Mitchell deliberately damaged while the cop attempted to confiscate it.

The mobile device was seized and sent to the forensic laboratory for analysis. Both defendants were subsequently arrested and charged.

After the allegations were outlined, Grant-Pryce informed the pair that due to the nature of the case they would face a lengthy legal process and that the matter would be transferred to the Supreme Court for trial because it fell outside the jurisdiction of the Criminal Court.

The judge subsequently set the matter for mention on May 20 and extended their bail.