Ladyville Man Beats Attempted Burglary Charge, Guilty of Trespassing

Esau Bainton

A Ladyville resident who was on trial this morning before Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith beat an attempted burglary charge but was found guilty of trespassing his neighbor’s yard and for damaging her door.  The incident happened last year in September when Esau Bainton tried to enter Maribel Perez’s house which is located across from his house in Ladyville. Police Officer, Frank Garcia, was on duty when he got a call of an attempted burglary on Perez Road.  He responded, but by the time he arrived, the culprit was seen running into the nearby bushes and police caught up with him at the corner of Lord’s Bank junction and the Phillip Goldson Highway.  Bainton was initially charged with attempted burglary and damage to the property, but at the conclusion of his trial, Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith found him not guilty of Attempted Burglary but guilty of Trespassing and Damage to Property. She told Bainton that in order to prove the charge of Attempted Burglary, the prosecutor had to prove that he tried to enter Perez’s house, but that he did not have the mental capacity because he was drunk.  For the offense of Trespassing and Damage to Property, Bainton was imposed two non-custodial sentences and was fined four hundred dollars, but up until this afternoon, he was unable to pay and remains in police custody at the Queen Street Police station.