A man who admitted handling stolen goods from a clothes shop theft was yesterday released from prison after he was sentenced to time already served in custody.

Jahroy Simons, 35, was also ordered to pay $350 in restitution to Darren Booth, the owner of The Booth, on Reid Street, for handling goods that were stolen from his store.

Magistrates’ Court heard that an employee of The Booth opened the store for business on November 26 last year, but discovered one of the windows had been broken.

The employee discovered that goods valued at $6,148 had been stolen and notified police.

Officers were tipped off the next day to a man selling Helly Hansen jackets out of a derelict building on Princess Street in Hamilton.

Officers searched the premises, where they found several items stolen from The Booth.

Simons, who had been found at the site, also wore a sweatshirt, sneakers, pants and a face mask that was later identified to have been stolen from the retail store.

Simons and another man were arrested and taken to Hamilton Police Station where officers later identified Simons in CCTV footage from the night of the burglary.

Simons, from Sandys, and his co-defendant, Jah-Fari Flood, 29, were charged with burglary on November 30.

They both pleaded not guilty to the offence, but Simons yesterday pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of handling $350 worth of stolen goods.

The court heard that Simons had been in custody since his December appearance because he could not adhere to bail conditions.

Crown prosecutor Maria Sofianos said that a six-month prison sentence would be appropriate, but added that Simons’ time on remand should be taken into consideration.

Magistrate Craig Attridge ordered Simons to pay a restitution order by June 1.

Mr Flood, from Pembroke, who maintained his not guilty plea, had his case adjourned until May 3 and his $5,000 bail extended.

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