Cornell Francis, 28, of a Westmoreland address was fined $70,000 or nine months imprisonment for larceny of a goat.

Barrington Holmes, a farmer, and owner of the goat, testified that on October 20, last year, he received information which led him to go on a search for his 33 goats.Holmes stated that he saw his black goat in the trunk of a motor car and identified the goat by its broken horn.He said the goat was involved in a fight two months before he was stolen, and that was how his horn was broken.

Holmes said residents had stopped Francis when they saw the goat in the trunk of the motor car.When the police arrived on the scene, the accused had injuries all over his body.Francis denied, stealing the goat.He told the court that he had gone to the river to wash his motor car.

After Francis was found guilty, attorney-at-Law Michael Erskine begged Resident Magistrate Sheron Barnes not to send him to prison.Erskine said Francis had no previous conviction and had already been punished by the mob who attacked and injured him.

RM Barnes said although she abhorred stealing, especially from hard working farmers, she would exercise some leniency and impose a fine.

Farmer Holmes informed the court that the goat was consumed over the Christmas holidays last year.