Lord gets 18 years for businessman’s death

Chris Avian Amal Lord has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the shooting incident on Baxter’s Road, the City on May 10, 2016, that led to the death of businessman Colin Forde.

However, Justice Randall Worrell ruled that the sentence should run from the time Lord was remanded to Dodds for the offence of murder, which is June 10, 2016, due to the fact that he has been in “continuous detention”.

In November last year Lord, then 28 years old, of Thomas Gap, President Kennedy Drive, St Michael pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to Forde’s manslaughter.

Forde died after being shot during the course of a robbery at his business– Colin’s Sports Bar and Lounge.

According to the facts Lord initially denied to police any involvement in the matter but subsequently said, “I was not at home officer, I was present but I only snatched Colin’s chains, X is who shoot Colin”.

In a detailed statement to the investigators, the manslayer also indicated that he received the firearm from Y with the intention to rob Colin at gunpoint of his jewelry. He also told of specific plans about what he needed perpetrator X to do. That was to hold Forde at gunpoint while he, Lord took off his jewelry.

In his ruling which was done via a Zoom hearing this morning, Justice Worrell said, “It is clear from his statement that he Chris Lord was the mastermind of this robbery which tragically resulted in the death of Colin Forde.

“. . . . He [Lord] played a significant role even though he did not pull the trigger. He was the mastermind of this.

“He did not pull the trigger but he clearly stated that he obtained the gun . . . ,” the judge added.

A starting sentence of 16 years, Justice Worrell said, would be appropriate in this case but after taking into consideration the aggravating and mitigating factors of the offence as well as the offender the sentence was increased by two years.

“Clearly this was a meticulously-planned robbery by Lord, which went horribly wrong resulting in the death of the deceased,” the judge further stated as he outlined the factors and concluded that aggravating features of the offence clearly outweighed the mitigating.

However when it came time to credit Lord with the time he had spent on remand the High Court judge who presided over the No. 2 Supreme Court said the court was of the opinion that the “only … effective way that this could be done . . . is to have the sentence backdated to the period which the convicted man was first remanded.”

He stated: “The merits of this approach for persons on continuous remand for a particular offence or set of offences are to be considered. One accepts that this relates only to continuous remand . . .

“In all cases the time spent is delivered to the court but in matters of continuous remand, it is submitted that the most equitable way of dealing with such matters is to backdate the sentence . . .

“The benefits of backdating sentences are not new neither should the court frown upon this approach because it is not particularised in any statue,” he added.