A court has fined and jailed a Vieux Fort man accused of twice entering a farm at Augier, Vieux Fort, and stealing chickens and eggs.
When the accused, identified as 45-year-old Elijah Elibox of Augier, appeared virtually before the court, he received a sentence of eight months in prison and a $500 fine on each of two charges.
The court heard that on February 18 last year, between 6:45 am and 11:26 pm, Elibox stole chickens and eggs valued at $210 from a poultry farm.
Days previously, between February 11 and 12, 2023, he had also stolen chickens from the same farm.
The fact that CCTV cameras recorded the crimes has prompted the Praedial Larceny Unit to reiterate a call to farmers to install the devices.
Are you serious?????. Next time you will say hire security guards. Farmers are too often thrown to the 🐕 🛷.
What makes me laugh about this story………he gets 8 months in prison but if you shoot someone or get caught with illegal guns and ammunition you only get bail????
This country is unbelievable. 🤣
In la Ressource not even a plantain or a macabo you can have in your garden
@lexieloo the judges need to be jailed. Only then they well exercise the duties with objectivity. Waste of time
Smh
What become of the sentencing of Eugene St. Romain who was found guilty since last year? Has he been sentenced?
What become of the female police who was found with firearms in the barrel in VF?
It appears that we are living in the dark ages once again.
I cannot believe what I am reading ….I hace seen criminals with gun related charges walk out of court on bail or fine and they put a chicken thief in prison …..Ii is now evident that the IQ 85 was not an error in the study but obviously the correct finding .
What kind of world are we living in when a man can go to prison for nicking eggs and chicken? There are far worst crimes being committed out there and people are getting away with it or with a slap on the wrist. Any system that can punish a man for such petty crimes has to be patently absurd. I am appalled to say the least. The question that needs to be asked is : Why did he steal the eggs and chicken? There must be a reason. Maybe just maybe he was trying to feed himself and his family. How about that?
The most this man should have gotten is a fine and for him to apologize to the owner/s of the chicken farm… Oh no they had to make an example of him by imposing a custodial sentence. I don’t think that the sentence fits the so called “crime” that he committed. The law can be overbearing at times. Now this man will be away from his family for almost a year while his family toils to make a living. I know that stealing is wrong but there are times when it can be justified. How about the captains of industry and officials who used aid money to send their kids to posh schools overseas and for them to come boast about how their daughters and sons are doctors lawyers and engineers etc?… Using money that should be used to help the island but is instead being used by inept and corrupt officials in furtherance of their own selfish causes. Why don’t they use their own funds for their own benefit?
Don’t this count as stealing and fraud? So the politicians can do and is entitled to get away with it while the poor man is sent straight to prison. The law is ridiculously unfair. I will say it again: What kind of World are we living in when there is justice for some and not for all? I am calling for this poor man to be freed.. Give him a chance and a job please. That is all I am asking.
Cry your usual river you fools who think the sentencing does not fit the crime. Oh it’s only eggs and chickens verses gun violence or other violent crime. So what should have been the deterrence for stealing not once but twice ??? A slap on the resist and go at your home for doing this not only once but twice and for all we might know before the cameras were installed i will bet you this has been the “norm” for him. What about the cost to the poor farmer bottom line ??? Do you clowns understand what it takes to rear chickens?? Feed is expensive, if you have a broader that’s expensive (electricity) also, vaccines, labor and packaging, housing keep the coop free of predators, choops water, lots of water. I have four layers I brought during the pandemic so I haven’t brought eggs in three years but I once owned a small chicken farm up in Pero 20yrs ago and the same fellow that came and work for me in the morning, would come back and help himself at nights people saw him on Clark Street selling eggs. Praedial Larceny is a serious treat to farmers and for some reasons you fools don’t think this is just “petty theft”; praedial larceny cost the farmers millions and greatly affects their ability to bring produce to the local market. So when you are bitching you can’t get this or that or it cost so much for local this or that add theft to the cost, and their goes our import bill because the likes of you can’t understand, want it and complaining you can’t get it. The punishment fist the crime, their must be a deterrent.
@depitoss Jones – spot on! We have the most ridiculous sentencing in this country. Yes the man committed a crime and there should be appropriate, I emphasize appropriate, punishment. Who knows the reason why he stole – a lot of hungry and desperate people here. Maybe he is not well-educated and not able to provide for himself and his family, or he could just be lazy and criminally minded. BUT he should not be gaoled for stealing chickens and eggs for goodness sake! The fines totalled $1000, why not reimburse the farmer the value of the thefts which were less than half the fines, and also make the thief do three months community work. It is not fair for the farmer to lose out and how is gaoling this individual going to help the farmer? It’s taxpayers money keeping him incarcerated too. So absurd. Governed by Stupidity. Like others have said, we have murderers and violent criminals out on bail roaming the streets and far worse thieves, and corrupt people living the high life and yet a minor non-violent criminal is put in Gaol because he is likely at the bottom of the chain – can’t pay his way out like some. You are likely condemning the man (and probably his whole family) to a continuing cycle of poverty. This country is a joke. Going backwards every day. We cannot even call ourselves a developing nation. Too many arrogant, wealthy (by corruption or otherwise) people not doing enough to alleviate poverty here – all out for themselves. Why doesn’t the Government assist our farmers too in providing CCTV. That would kill two birds with the one stone: reduce Praedial Larceny AND stop wasting the legal system’s time, so it could be freed up for the real criminal issues in St Lucia. Oh and it would save taxpayers money as well!
Praedial larceny is more devastating than the name implies. From a computer desk, it’s pretty easy to dismiss it as a non-serious crime, when it is fact a serious offense. Farmers are exposed to various forms of peril. The brutal heat, most times insufficient water, birds and insects destroying crops, excessive rains, expensive inputs and diseases. Did I say crooks?
It’s extremely heartbreaking for farmers (big and small) to come to the realization that their hard work is being reaped by the crook. Who is going to feed THEIR families? Surely, not the crook. If a farmer experiences too many thefts, they are going to quit because the effort is not worth it. I have seen some quit. Is that what we want in the age of food security? The less food available, the higher the prices will be for available food. Simple case of supply and demand. Everybody pays for it.
Pay attention to the majority age group of the people doing farming. They are principally older people. Have you ever asked yourself why it is so? We all know the answer no matter our density. To keep people farming, and food prices contained, there must be serious deterrence in place to prevent crooks from disturbing the equilibrium. There is work even for the crooks, because landowners are always in search of people to farm their land. Each party gets a cut from the proceeds. Forget about it, too much hard work. I am in Soufriere and Vieux-Fort at least once during the week. I hear the complaints.