Accused Burglar says he’s the victim

Paul Parham

A Mahogany Heights man is being accused of burglarizing his neighbor’s house and today he was brought before Chief Magistrate Ann Marie Smith to be charged. Thirty-one year old Paul Parham allegedly attempted to break into Maria Neal’s house on Sunday, but was caught in the act and ran off. He didn’t give up; instead Parham moved on to the home of Valerie O’Brien where he managed to get inside and allegedly attempted to rape her. As a result, he was charged with Burglary and Attempted Burglary. Parham was unrepresented and pleaded not guilty to both charges. But the prosecutor strongly objected to bail since Parham has two similar charges pending before the court and because he lives in the same area as the victims. Parham was asked why he thinks he should be granted bail and he said that he had just come out of jail and the residents of Mahogany Heights are telling lies on him because they don’t like him. He also started explaining that he had gone to buy marijuana from the son of one of the complainants but Chief Magistrate Smith stopped him from saying anything further. Bail was denied and he has been remanded to prison until April twenty-sixth.