Crown wants harsh sentence for killers

Confessed killers Kadeem Torian Wilkinson and Torell Sergio Holligan should receive a starting sentence of no less than 39 years in prison, says Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale.

Wilkinson of Todds Land, St George, and Holligan of Pool Land, St John had previously pleaded guilty to non-capital murder for the July 13, 2017 death of Kenrick Adolphus Spooner alias Jack.

The facts showed that the then 17-year-olds waited for Spooner in a plan to rob and eliminate an “informer” and murdered him as he made his way home for lunch.

“This was a most heinous crime in that his body was basically mutilated. He was beaten with a sword and a piece of wood,” Seale told the No. 2 Supreme Court today as the convicts listened via Zoom from Dodds prison.

The prosecutor urged the court to revisit the injuries suffered by Spooner prior to his death when addressing sentencing.

He made reference to the post mortem report which detailed the deceased’s injuries.

“This man’s skull was fractured in multiple places . . . This man was severely beaten.

“The injuries speak for themselves. There probably was not a part of his body that didn’t receive blows. These were factors informing the decision of the Department of Public Prosecutions as to what [plea] we should accept.

“The aggravating factors of the offence spoke of the nature of the injuries sustained by the excessiveness and intent of the persons. There had to be an intention to kill . . . clearly the ferocious nature of the injuries that were inflicted . . . shows an intention to cause serious bodily harm at the very least.

“So we must start with a starting point of nothing less than 39 years,” the Deputy DPP submitted in his sentencing remarks adding that the necessary discounts where applicable would then be credited.

Before Seale’s remarks, attorney-at-law Sian Lange made submissions on Holligan’s behalf while defence counsel Angela Mitchell-Gittens mitigated for Wilkinson.

Lange had submitted a starting sentence of 12 years in prison given the age of the offenders at the time and to apply the necessary discounts for the guilty plea and other factors.

Seale strongly disagreed.

“It cannot be a starting point that confuses itself with manslaughter. It cannot be a starting point that will [be] used by persons as a benchmark for minor sentences. It can’t be used as a precedent . . . A starting point of 12 years is preposterous,” he said.

“We must recognise there is something called the sanctity of life and forgive me for preaching about it but it is the most important thing in society, in the world . . . And we simply cannot say to killers that ‘you will be back out on the streets before the proverbial cat has licked his ears’. It is not justice, it is not fairness and it causes a society, especially the victims’ families, loved ones, to lose trust in the criminal justice system.

“When they recognise that a person who has taken a loved one from them especially in circumstances where they live in the same district. . . is back walking up and down the neighbourhood it is basically a slap in the face. So these relatives and friends have suffered twice. They have suffered at the hands of the perpetrators and they have also suffered at the hands of the criminal justice system
. . ,” Seale added.