‘Brutal’ killer given lengthy sentence

Ryan Samuels, said to be one of Lord Evil’s soldiers, was on Tuesday given a starting sentence of 35 years in prison.

Justice Randall Worrell handed down the ruling on the St Lucy resident this afternoon for the “exceptional brutality” used in the April 26, 2014 shooting death of Charlie Dume.

Samuels was charged with murder, but was found guilty of manslaughter by majority verdict of the jury in his 2019 trial. Dume died at Coyote’s Den Bar on the corner of Nelson and Wellington Street.

“There has been a loss of life at your hands using a firearm. This makes this a serious offence . . . . It must be stated that society has to be protected from this type of behaviour, this type of offence,” Justice Randall Worrell said as he handed down the sentence during a virtual sitting of his No. 2 Supreme Court.

The evidence during the trial revealed that Samuels shot Dume because he disrespected his boss Lord Evil. The facts indicate that Samuels and his gang went into the bar at Nelson Street and demanded certain things from the proprietor and his shop assistant. There was disagreement over things like a pack of nuts, chips, alcohol.

It was said that Punchies or Lord Evil, ordered one of his soldiers to pay the shop assistant $1000 after the man requested the $2 payment for an item which he had selected. But the Dume, the shop assistant responded, “I don’t want your $1000. I just need the $2.”

Justice Worrell said the aggravating features of the case was the use of a firearm, the number of injuries which the deceased sustained, the ammunition discharged from the firearm and the fact that the gun was not recovered.

According to the post mortem report there were multiple gunshot wounds on the deceased’s body, specifically on the left arm and right hand, his back, chest wall and abdomen. Cause of death was due to multiple organ failure and haemorrhagic shock secondary to multiple gunshot wounds.

The judge also pointed to a number of statements made by Samuels to police during investigations among them that he was there “to protect the boss” and when asked to explain he said, “I mean like what I do to de man in the bar in Nelson Street.”

When asked if he was comfortable defending the boss, he replied “Yes because I does got a gun 24/7 and I get money, clothes and weed and drinks . . .”

The convicted man, the judge said, also disclosed that he was a member of a gang, the “ N.W.O. – New World Order”.

“You were 34 years old at the time and it seems to the court that you were part and parcel of this gang culture referred to in the evidence as the N.W.O.

“This court takes the use of the firearm, the amount of injuries, the nature of the injuries, the evidence disclosing that you have a gun 24/7 and are part of some sort of gun culture or gang culture as all aggravating features of this offence.

“If you did not have this firearm or were not part of this culture it is quite clear that Charlie Dume would not have tragically lost his life. You wrongly assumed that you were to shoot anyone who opposed your boss and that is an aggravating factor as well in this case.

“The pumping of multiple gunshots, with seven apparent entry wounds and five apparent exit wounds as identified by the pathologist can only be deemed in my mind as an aggravating feature of exceptional brutality,” the judge ruled as he imposed a starting sentence of 35 years in prison for the crime.

He also pointed to mitigating factors of the offender resulting in the starting sentence being moved downwards to 32 years or 11,680 days taking into account Samuels’ age at the time, his previously “fairly good character” and concept of rehabilitation.

From that time the 2,963 days that the killer had already spent on remand were also deducted leaving him with 8,717 days to spend in prison starting today.

Samuels was also ordered to undergo educational and vocational courses while incarcerated.

Justice Worrell has also requested, from officials at the St Philip facility, a report of the killer’s progress at 18-month intervals over the next five years “to give purpose and effect” to his rehabilitation.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale represented the state in the matter while Samuels had Mohia Ma’at as his defence counsel.