The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

A MECHANIC who accepted funds for a service he never completed was ordered to reimburse his client to avoid getting a criminal record.

Vandrick Smith, 30, was charged with stealing by reason of service after he was accused of taking $300 in cash from a woman to perform mechanical work he never got around to doing.

He owned up to the offence when he appeared before Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt.

The court was told that the woman paid Smith the money on February 1 to transfer the engine transmission out of her red Jeep into another vehicle she owned of the same make and model. The complainant told police she also loaned the accused a $60 gas jug at the time of the transaction.

The prosecution said Smith told the woman he was coming back to do the work, but never returned. After she filed an official complaint with police, he was arrested. When he was interviewed by officers, he admitted the offence.

During his hearing, Smith told the magistrate he finished “more than half of the work” on the woman’s Jeep. He also claimed he returned her gas jug and said he had even spoken to the woman’s husband who agreed to give him more time to finish the job as he was busy “working on some other cars that were off the island”.

In response, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt told the accused his actions were “professionally sloppy” and could result in him receiving a criminal record. However, she said she was not minded to impose a fine and gave him an opportunity to reimburse the woman that same day to avoid getting convicted.

“It was an error in judgement that you need not do again,” she warned.