BELIZE CITY, Mon. July 8, 2019– Raymond Lamb, 32, a fisherman of San Pedro Town, appeared today before Senior Magistrate Tricia Pitts Anderson and was arraigned on a charge of burglary in which jewelry, money and some other items were stolen that amounted in value to $42,490.

Lamb pleaded not guilty to the charge. The prosecutor objected to bail being granted to him on several grounds — one of which was that the offence of burglary has become prevalent.

Another ground was that the court has a special duty to assist the security forces in combating crime.

A third ground was that on June 13, Lamb was convicted of a similar offence that had occurred in San Pedro Town, and he was fined.

A fourth ground was that the prosecution has a strong case because the defendant was positively identified by two persons.

The fifth ground was that the investigation into the incident is still ongoing and none of the stolen items have been recovered.

Lamb, in response to the objection to bail, said that he is the father of four children and the youngest is only 3 weeks old. He also said that he is innocent and the police charged him even though they have no evidence.

But in spite of his denial that he committed the offence, Senior Magistrate Anderson denied him bail in the first instance and remanded him until September 3.

The burglary occurred on July 6. According to the allegation against him, Lamb entered as a trespasser a room at Victoria House in San Pedro Town and stole from Misty Harris, a American national, two pieces of jewelry with a combined value of $40,000, $240 in cash, an iPhone, a black wallet and 2 Mastercards from the Bank of America.