A sentencing hearing in the theft trial of an 81-year-old attorney has been postponed after the defence requested additional time to secure a key character witness.

Hilary Jeffrey Nelson, of Bagatelle Terrace, St James, had initially denied stealing £347 560 ($855 000) from Errol Hewitt between November 13, 2018 and March 4, 2019, when, after making his unsworn statement from the dock of the No. 5 Supreme Court, he unexpectedly threw in the towel and admitted to the offence.

He told the court at that time that during COVID, when there was a buyer’s market, “I didn’t get off any properties to be in a position to pay off the monies allegedly stolen at that particular period in time, but it has always been my intention to do so.”