Man gets 15-year sentence thanks to police’s hard work |04 July 2013

A communiqué from the police said that in the early hours of Sunday June 23, 2013, an act of burglary and stealing occurred at a tourist establishment on Praslin. The victim, a Pakistani tourist, had items, which included an ‘iPhone’, cash, jewelry and a pair of sunglasses, stolen.

The communiqué added that the police attended the scene and collected forensic and testimonial evidence. CID officers followed up the case shortly after. 

During the course of the investigation, the CID officer doing the investigation received information from a reliable source that someone on Praslin had recently come in possession of sunglasses fitting the description of the stolen pair.

Following up on the information, investigating officers subsequently met the named person – Javen William – who, in the presence of a probation officer, admitted to committing the burglary and stealing at the guest house.
 
The stolen sunglasses were recovered at the home of Mr William who also admitted to selling the iPhone to another person residing on Praslin.

The male subject identified by Mr William was subsequently arrested with the stolen ‘iPhone’ recovered in his possession. During the interview this suspect admitted buying the item from Mr William.

On June 26, 2013, three days after the burglary, Mr William and the other suspect appeared in front of the magistrate’s court on Praslin. Mr William pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 years for burglary and five years for stealing. The sentences are to run consecutively.

However, the individual who purchased the stolen property pleaded not guilty on retaining stolen property and was released on bail bond. He will appear in court again on July 22, 2013, while the investigation is ongoing.

As for the victim, despite the trauma of the theft and his belongings being stolen before receiving them back, he left relieved that the matter was quickly dealt with and efficiently managed.

This latest incident perhaps confirms that the efforts of the police, in detecting and responding to acts of crime, are continuing to pay off as a result of diligence and hard work thanks to continued training and refresher programmes as recently announced.

Meanwhile, investigative officers of the CID unit on Mahé are also achieving good results and are working tirelessly on recent high-profile cases such as the Credit Union theft, the wounding of a La Gogue shopkeeper and the burglary at the African Jewelers.