During the day, Davie Monroe Marshall would be elbow deep in flour as he baked cakes and pastries for Crumbz Bakery.
But as night fell, Marshall found himself easing through the rear window of Larry’s Old Fashioned Bakery, and it wasn’t to compare recipes or ingredients.
However, after an appearance in the District “A” Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Marshall will be doing all his baking at HMP Dodds for the next 36 months.
The 50-year-old of Brittons Cross Road, Brittons Hill, St Michael, confessed he entered Larry’s Old Fashioned Bakery, between January 2 and 3, and stole two lead pipes, cans of sardines and tuna, three blocks of cheese, hand towels and drinks, all worth $294, and that he entered the same bakery again between January 9 and 10, and stole more drinks, cans of tuna and sardines.
He had also pleaded guilty to entering Caribbean Fruits and Vegetables between November 2 and 6 last year; again between November 7 and 8; November 9 and 10 and on November 12, and stealing, on each occasion, quantities of fruits ranging in value from $843 and $1 076.
In addition, Marshall also confessed to having cocaine on January 15.
The baker has 35 previous convictions – 30 for theft and one for loitering.
“I was working for Crumbz Bakery,” he began, as Magistrate Douglas Frederick interjected: “And then you broke into another?”
“You worked at a bakery where you could get bread, so you had no reason to break into another. I am sure if you had asked the manager he would have given you some,” the magistrate said.
Marshall put his acts down to a drug habit.
“I have a drug problem. Nobody ever try to give me no help,” he said, adding he was introduced to the illegal drug by a friend.
The baker said he had been battling his drug habit for four years.
“But long before the drugs, you had a number of convictions,” the magistrate noted, adding that he had taken into consideration the guilty pleas and had shaved time off the maximum sentence.
The magistrate sentenced Marshall to six months for each of the six burglary charges and ordered that the sentences run consecutively. The magistrate also sentenced him to six months concurrent for having the cocaine in his possession.
Prosecutor Sergeant Theodore McClean said the owner of Caribbean Fruits & Vegetables secured the premises but returned to find a window open on each occasion.
The owner checked the bond and discovered the produce was missing. The footage from the security camera was examined and Marshall was seen, picked up by police and interviewed.
In relation to the burglaries of the bakery, the owner secured the business but noticed the drinks were missing when he opened the following days.
He could find no signs of entry and police were summoned.
When Marshall was interviewed, he told lawmen he had pulled open a gate, opened a window at the rear of the building and climbed inside. (HLE)
