Man Who Struggled With Drug Addiction Finds Himself In Court For Theft From A Farm & AL Thompson; Court Weighs His Recovery

By Alric Lindsay

Doctor Robert Russell (“Doctor” being his given name), who admitted a string of thefts — a power bank from a store, a haul of scallions from a farm, and tyres from a building site — is to be sentenced at a later date, after the Chief Magistrate reserved her decision to weigh his record against what his lawyer described as a hard-won recovery from addiction.

The theft charges

Crown Counsel from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions outlined the facts surrounding the theft charges.

In the first, DPP Crown Counsel explained that in January 2025, Russell was captured on CCTV at AL Thompson removing a vehicle power bank from its packaging on a shelf and leaving the empty packet on the shelf.  He placed the powerback in the front of his pants, and approached the cashier with two other items.  While he paid for the two other items, he did not pay for the power bank, which was valued at CI$71.  He then left the store.  A report was made to the police station and Russell was recognized by the officer from the CCTV still shots.  He was subsequently arrested on April 12, 2025.

In the second offence, in July 2025, the complainant — a farmer who grows produce as his main source of income at Brightview Avenue — found Russell loading a garbage bag of scallions into a car.  The farmer recorded the incident.  It was also shared that the value of the scallions was CI$216 and weighed 27 pounds.
When confronted, Russell identified himself, apologised, and said he would return the next day to replant.  He later told officers he had taken them because he was hungry and wanted to cook and eat them. He took extra because he wanted to share. He voluntarily attended a police station in August 2025 and was arrested for theft and criminal trespass.  

In the third offence, on September 2025, Russell — with a female accomplice — was found at a site on Fairbanks Road, George Town, where a security guard challenged him over a set of tires valued at $330; reportedly, he became aggressive with the security guard and left.  The vehicle was tracked by police and found on Short Lane in Windsor Park. 

Reportedly, when questioned, Russell explained that someone asked him to drive the vehicle from Fairbanks and the tyres were in the backseat and he did not steal them. He was later arrested.

Record and mitigation

DPP Crown Counsel told the court that the offences had been committed while Russell was subject to a suspended sentence, and that he had a substantial number of previous convictions for theft and many others.

In mitigation, Russell’s counsel, Lauren Miranda, described a struggle with drug addiction spanning most of his life. The offences, it was said, occurred during a downward spiral following a relapse; one incident had been filmed and circulated on social media, which proved a turning point.  Russell turned himself in, and since October had been in recovery — in regular, voluntary contact with a prevention specialist, Simon Miller, at the National Drug Council, and committed to his family and his role as a grandfather. The court was told he was not eligible for the Drug Rehabilitation Court, but that a report recommended a probation order, and that he was willing to comply with conditions including regular drug testing. His counsel added that Russell was starting to experience memory loss and dementia and urged the court not to disrupt the recovery he had built over the past ten months.

The Chief Magistrate did not sentence Russell today. Instead, she reserved the sentence for a later date to give more thought to the matter, bearing in mind Russell’s struggle with drug addiction and his road to recovery.