20 year old Keron Swasey and 19 year old Christopher Gillett, charged with burglary, were found guilty today by Senior Magistrate Sharon Fraser. Swasey, who did not appear in court for trial, was found guilty ex-parte.
The burglary occurred on February 17, 2012, at a house located at 1C Faber's Road owned by Emily Stanley. The house was unoccupied at the time and the items that were stolen included 6 aluminium louvres windows and wash basin. Police constable Gabriel Cano testified that based on information he received he detained Gillett and Gillett admitted that he participated in the burglary. He also testified that Gillett took him to a house at 20 Caesar Ridge Road where he recovered the stolen items.
Gillett gave a statement from the dock in which he denied that he admitted to Cano that he participated in the burglary. He said he Swasey had told him about the burglary and Swasey had asked him if he knew anybody who wanted to buy the windows. But Senior Magistrate Fraser did not believe his statement and she found him guilty.
Though he was not present, Swasey was sentenced to 5 years with the stipulation that the sentence is to run consecutively with another 6 year sentence that Senior Magistrate Fraser gave him last week ex-parte for another burglary conviction. Both burglaries had occurred around the same time and they were at houses adjacent to each other. Gillett was much more fortunate. Because Gillett was a 17 year old minor at the time of the burglary for which he was convicted, Senior Magistrate Fraser declined to give him a custodial sentence. Instead, she fined him $1,000 and gave him until October 31 to pay. If he defaults on payment he will serve 2 years.
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