‘Abandoned’ teen tells judge sad story

A19-year-old told a judge on Thursday that he participated in robberies in downtown Kingston to provide for himself after his family allegedly abandoned him.

Dwight McCarthy, who is from St Thomas, is to be sentenced in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court for larceny from the person, unlawful possession of property, and being armed with an offensive weapon.

McCarthy, who has a speech impediment, was assisted by attorney-at-law Walter Melbourne, who stood as a friend of the court in a plea mitigation.

Melbourne intervened after Senior Judge Lori-Anne ColeMontaque tried to ascertain why McCarthy had three ratchet knives in his possession when accosted by the police.

It was reported that on November 27, 2023, McCarthy grabbed the complainaint’s purse while she was in a wholesale in downtown Kingston. He was seen on surveillance footage and was apprehended by the police days later. Three knives were found in his possession, as well as $13,000 cash.

McCarthy could not provide a satisfactory explanation to the police as to how he got the money. McCarthy, the court heard at the time, provided a contact number for his father, but when the number was called, a woman answered and said she does not know the defendant.

Melbourne said that during his discussion with the teen, he was told that his family does not care for him, and he travelled to Kingston to meet his friends, who “inveigled” him to rob. The loot would be shared among the teens.

“They led him to commit offences. He said it was his first time, and it was his friends who gave him the knives to hold on to,” Melbourne related to the court.

“He is so easily influenced?” Judge Cole-Montaque asked.

“It seems so. He is young, he is 19, he cannot even explain himself properly. I think the probation officers can take his grandfather’s number to see what can be done for him,” Melbourne suggested.

Judge Cole-Montaque requested a social enquiry report for the teen, who has been in custody since November 27. He was remanded until March 28, when he is to be sentenced.