Hearing deferred in larceny case against helper

Christopher Thomas, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

A St James woman, who is accused of stealing jewellery from her employer and then selling them, will still have to wait for her day in court as the case against her was deferred to another date when she appeared in the Montego Bay Resident Magistrate's Court on Monday.

Flora Bernard, a housekeeper of a Dumfries address in St James, is facing a charge of larceny as a servant committed against Paula Miller. She is to return to court on February 21 as the prosecution's case file is not ready.

The allegations are that, on December 19, 2012, Miller arrived home and discovered three sets of earrings, a wedding band, a necklace and a gold chain missing from her house. She promptly called Bernard who had left work for the day, but she denied having any knowledge of the missing items.

The aggrieved Miller subsequently reported the matter the police. On December 22, the investigating officer saw Bernard on Church Street, in Montego Bay, and accosted her.

When Bernard was questioned about the missing items, she reportedly said, "Me sorry me take dem … . Me carry dem down a Cash Wiz at City Centre building and me get $18,000 fe dem."

Upon hearing Bernard's alleged confession, the investigating officer promptly arrested and charged her with larceny as a servant.

In court on Monday, the prosecution told Resident Magistrate Sandria Wong-Small that a statement from the proprietor of the Cash Wiz establishment and a police statement were still outstanding from its file.

"Are you going to speak for yourself, or are you going to get a lawyer?" RM Wong-Small asked Bernard.

"I will get one (a lawyer), Your Honour," Bernard replied

"This matter will be mentioned before the court again on February 21. Your bail is extended until then," RM Wong-Small told Bernard.