Zinc Thief Gets Seven Years in Jail

Forty-two-year-old Dwayne Mark Gentle has been sentenced to seven years in prison for burglary after allegedly breaking into the home of a police officer on West Street on Monday. Gentle, along with an eleven-year-old boy, reportedly stole twenty sheets of zinc from the residence of Inspector Hendrick Williams. This morning, he appeared unrepresented in the lower courts where he was read a single charge of burglary.  Gentle pleaded guilty and asked the court to spare him prison time by imposing a fine instead.  But it was not his first offense. In fact, it was his second conviction for a crime of dishonesty.  Notwithstanding his plea, Gentle, a resident of Conch Shell Bay, was sentenced to mandatory minimum of seven years at the Belize Central Prison.