A 39-year-old man who constantly stole from churches in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth, has been nabbed and is to be sentenced on March 3.
Mark 'Timmy' Lewis, a deportee of Brighton district, Santa Cruz, pleaded guilty to sacrilege when he appeared in the Santa Cruz Resident Magistrate's Court on February 14.
It is alleged that on February 9, about 2:15 a.m., the accused was seen with a white plastic bag walking along Institution Drive in Santa Cruz when he was stopped by the police.
The bag was searched and it was found to contain an amplifier and some money.
Following investigations by the Santa Cruz CIB, it was discovered that the amplifier had been stolen from the First Born Grace Chapel in the neighbouring community of Brighton.
The accused man confessed to the court that he broke into the church and stole the item and also confessed stealing from other churches in Santa Cruz.
He begged RM Stanley Clarke to send him to a rehab centre.
"Your Honour, mi a beg yu send mi to rehab because mi no know, the only rehab is under the ground or in prison," he said.