Jamaican for sentencing on Friday

Attorneys for the prosecution and the defence have agreed that a Jamaican man should be given a starting sentence of seven years in prison for his crime.

George Washington Williams, from Kingston 5 Jamaica, pleaded guilty before the High Court to engaging in acts preparatory for the purposes of trafficking in 48 kilogrammes of cannabis on December 20, 2018.

Williams also admitted that, on the same day, he conspired to traffic the illegal substance.

Mitigating on his behalf before Justice Randall Worrell in the No. 2 Supreme Court attorney-at-law Simon Clarke submitted that his client had cooperated with police, was remorseful, gave a voluntary statement in the matter, confessed to the crime and had no convictions in Barbados or his homeland.

He also told the court that Williams played a “lesser role” in the commission of the crime and was not the mastermind.

Clarke said given that his client had already spent 968 days at Dodds, a starting sentence of seven years in prison should be considered along with the necessary deductions for time spent on remand and his guilty plea which should leave him with time served.

Senior Crown Counsel Olivia Davis is the prosecutor in the case. She agreed that the seven-year starting point is appropriate and the necessary credit be allotted.

However, she maintained that 52-year-old Williams played a “skilled role” in the commission of the crime as the diver in a “sophisticated” enterprise.

The convicted man told Justice Worrell on Monday: “I am really sorry that I commit this offence and I promise myself never to do anything like this as long as I live.”

He is expected to be sentenced on Friday.