Convict ‘free’ to go

Randall Jason Antonio Brathwaite spent five years on remand on a charge of robbing a deejay and then attempting to sell some of the stolen items. Today, his time behind bars was deemed sufficient for the crimes to which he pleaded guilty seven years ago.
That was the ruling of Madame Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell as she sentenced Brathwaite to time served for the two offences when he reappeared in the No. 4 Supreme Court.

Brathwaite, of no fixed place of abode, had earlier pleaded guilty to robbing Denniston Small of a haversack, a bangle, a laptop, a cellular phone, a flash drive and an external hard drive on August 5, 2014.

The items were valued at $6 019.58.

He also pleaded guilty to handling the mentioned items knowing or believing them to be stolen.

In handing down her sentence Madame Smith-Bovell said the offences were of a serious nature and that only a custodial sentence would suffice.

She noted that the convicted man had 11 previous convictions, some of them for robbery and loitering with intent.
Justice Smith-Bovell said a victim impact statement had revealed that the complainant suffered flashbacks and anxiety for about 18 months after the incident.

The complainant revealed he had given up his deejay work because he did not think the risk was worth it.
Justice Smith-Bovell said a presentencing report concluded that he had a medium to high risk of re-offending.

“The court, when looking at the facts of this case, is of the view that the custodial threshold has been crossed and this offence is so serious that only a custodial sentence will do justice to the case.

“Having considered the aggravating factors for the offence the court considers a starting point of eight years for the offence of theft and three years for the handling of the stolen property,” Justice Smith-Bovell said.

She pointed out that in relation to the offender the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating elements. As a result, she said the eight-year sentence for theft should be increased by one year to nine years.

Justice Smith-Bovell said the convicted man would be credited for his one-third discount for his early guilty plea, bringing it to six years.

She said as of today he had spent five years 292 days on remand at HMP Dodds, leaving 53 days of his sentence to be served.

“The court also notes that it took some time for this matter to be indicted thereby delaying the progress of this matter and the now convicted man should get some credit for this.

“On count one robbery the accused is sentenced to six years in prison and having spent five years 292 days on remand the now convicted man is deemed to have served his sentence at the end of the sitting of this court. On count two, handling stolen property, the now convicted man is sentenced to three years in prison to run concurrent with the sentence for robbery and at the end of the sitting of this court is deemed to have served his sentence and is free to go,” Justice Smith-Bovell said.

The matter was prosecuted by Crown Counsel Joyann Catwell while Angela Mitchell-Gittens appeared on behalf of Brathwaite.
The court had heard that around 8:45 p.m. on August 5, 2014, Small was walking along Nursery Drive going towards St Michael’s Row when he was followed by two men dressed in dark clothing.

One of the men jumped onto his back and placed him in a headlock and swung him around while the other man threatened to shoot him if he did not give them what they wanted.

The complainant’s haversack which contained the items was taken from his back and the bangle snatched from his hand.

The two men then ran off.

Later that same night police responded to a robbery along Hardwood Alley in the City. After carrying out a sweep of the area two men fitting the description of the robbers were spotted walking along Spruce Street.

When the police confronted them they ran off and were pursued. Brathwaite was eventually held with the haversack which contained the laptop.

He told police it was his intention to sell the laptop.After being told of a story in the newspaper the complainant reported his robbery to the police on August 8, 2014.

He was later able to identify the laptop, charger, haversack and the external harddrive.

The bangle and cellular phone were never recovered.