BELIZE CITY—A Belize City man who has three previous convictions for burglary, picked up his fourth conviction when he pleaded guilty to burglary at his arraignment before Magistrate Hettie Mae Stewart this morning and was sentenced to 7 years in prison.
“I no wan kip back yu time, mammy, I guilty,” Richard Codd, 39, an unemployed resident of Zacaranda Street, told Magistrate Stewart after she read the single charge of burglary to him.
According to police, on Thursday, August 14, 2014, Senior Superintendent of Police Edward Broaster received certain information and went to his house, located at 2871 North End Estate.
Upon arrival at his house, Broaster observed that a sash window on the eastern side of his two-story house had been broken into.
When he made checks inside, he discovered that several items were missing.
Among the missing items were a DVD player, valued at $175; a Mag light, valued at $90; a set of computer speakers valued at $80 and a pair of Puma slippers valued at $30, all totaling $375 in value.
The police facts of the case that were read out in court included a statement that, “Broaster saw the defendant inside his residence upon reviewing his surveillance camera.”
Codd, after the court prosecutor had read the police’s statement of the burglary, told the court that he agreed with the facts of the case.
In his mitigation plea, Codd asked the court to “have a lee mercy on me. I told Mr. Broaster that I’m sorry. He made me fix back the window.”
Codd added, “He got back all his things. I am a sick person; somebody obeah me.”
Magistrate Stewart, in sentencing Codd to 7 years in prison, noted that he has three previous burglary convictions. In addition, Codd also has convictions for attempted theft and going equipped for stealing.
In 1999, Codd got his first burglary conviction and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He was again convicted of burglary in 2003 and served a 5-year sentence. In 2009, Codd was sentenced to 5 years for burglary.
He also served a one-year sentence for attempted theft and a two-month sentence for a charge of going equipped (for stealing).
Before he left the courtroom, Codd said that someone showed him Broaster’s house and told him to burglarize it.
“But this won’t happen to me again,” the convicted burglar vowed.
