Albert, Pointe convicted for aiding in housebreaking, retaining feloniously stolen property |22 February 2018

Godfrey Albert and Terry Pointe have been convicted to five and four years in prison respectively for aiding, abetting in housebreaking and retaining feloniously stolen property.

Reading out the judgment on Monday at the Supreme Court, judge Mohan Niranjit Burhan sentenced Albert to five years imprisonment for aiding and abetting in housebreaking as well as three years for stealing from a dwelling house. Both terms of imprisonment will run concurrently.

The incident happened in the early morning of July 23, 2014 at the residence of the British High Commissioner in Seychelles at Curio Road, Bel Air. Precious jewellery worth Great Britain pounds (GBP20,550, R1,000 and GBP 100 were stolen from the dwelling house resided by British nationals Richard Skoll and Lindsay Skoll.

Only a necklace worth GBP 1,500 was recovered by the police.

Judge Burhan said because Albert, 37, was a trusted and well-liked employee of the British High Commission, it is clear he had betrayed this trust placed upon him by his employer, by aiding and abetting a housebreaking of his employer’s premises.

He added that the incident was “aggravating in nature” and it was “the assistance given from within that encouraged and resulted in the housebreaking of the British High Commission, a premises under 24-hour guard”.

The second convict, Terry Pointe, was found guilty and convicted for retaining other property knowing or having reason to believe that the same to have been feloniously stolen, taken, obtained contrary to and punishable under Section  309(1) of the Penal Code (CAP 158).

Pointe was sentenced to a term of four years imprisonment and this term is to run consecutively to all other terms of imprisonment imposed on him up to date.