A police constable, formerly assigned to the ANR Robinson Airport, Tobago, who admitted to stealing items from passengers’ luggage, has been fined $150,000.
In addition to the hefty fine, Brian Stephens, of La Baja Road, Maracas/St Joseph, was also placed on a bond in the sum of $50,000 to be on good behaviour for five years when he was sentenced by Justice Gillian Lucky in the Port-of-Spain High Court yesterday.
In sentencing Stephens, Lucky said he should not view the non-custodial sentence as lenient because he would lose all benefits of being a police officer by pleading guilty to three charges of misbehaviour in public office.
“The message has to be sent to persons who hold positions of trust that there are serious consequences for a breach of that trust. Police have considerable powers and you used this power for self profit,” Lucky said.
She said one of the aggravating factors in the case was the fact that after being caught red-handed, he contacted a colleague and asked him to remove items he had stolen in the past from his apartment.
Stephens, who now operates a taxi service, agreed to pay $50,000 yesterday and promised to pay the remainder in $5,000 monthly installments over the next 20 months.
According to the evidence in the case, detectives of the Fraud Squad, led by ACP Simon Lendor and Senior Supt Totaram Dookie, began investigating Stephens in 2008 after they received numerous reports from tourists from the United Kingdom, who lost personal items, including cameras and clothing, after arriving in Tobago.
Hidden cameras were installed where passengers’ baggage is stored in the airport and Stephens, who was assigned a sniffer dog handler with the Canine Branch, was caught on three separate occasions in October 2008 rummaging through passenger’s luggage.
Lucky praised the investigators for their work as she said that the evidence they gatherered constituted an almost indefensible case against Stephens.
Stephens was represented by Larry Williams while Anju Bhola prosecuted.