A man said to have been “fascinated with the block culture” and wanted to be a part of it, was given a nine-year starting prison sentence for gun and ammunition convictions.
However, as of Friday, Rochad Kadeem Bryan, of Fairy Valley, Christ Church only has three years left to serve in jail as several factors were taken into consideration.
Bryan had first pleaded guilty, before Justice Carlisle Greaves, to having possession of a 12-gauge shotgun and one round of ammunition on September 15, 2017.
He then urged the judge to take into consideration a similar offence when sentencing, and subsequently pleaded guilty to having a .22 semi-automatic pistol and seven rounds of ammunition in his possession, on July 31, 2020.
Disclosing the details of that first offence, Senior State Counsel Neville Watson told Supreme Court No. 3 that police were on patrol along Cane Vale Road, Christ Church around 8 p.m. when they observed a vehicle approaching with one lighted headlamp.
They signaled for Bryan, who was the driver, to stop but he refused. They pursued him and he lost control of the vehicle, running into a grassy area on the left side of the road.
A shotgun was recovered in the vehicle and when interviewed Bryan said: “I was on the road with the shotgun . . . I hold responsibility . . . the gun is mine. . . .”
With regards to the 2020 offence, police were on patrol along Chapman Lane, The City, at around 12:18 a.m. when they observed a motor car travelling east on Kensington New Road, with the headlights off.
The driver then quickly turned on the headlights and accelerated, causing lawmen to become suspicious. They followed the vehicle which came to a stop, and police spoke to the driver. They requested and were given permission to search the vehicle, and a firearm was found in the front passenger seat where Bryan’s co-accused Shakila Paria Shirlene Walcott, of Kensington New Road, St Michael, was sitting. She had pleaded not guilty to the two offences.
Asked for an account of the weapon, Bryan said: “The firearm is mine, she ain’t know about no firearm.”
In court on Friday, he apologised for his actions.
“I am very sorry. . . .I was going through a time in my life where I was . . . trying to fit in . . . . I am begging for another chance. . . . I would just like another chance so I can be a better man for my daughter . . . ,” he pleaded with the court.
Watson submitted that taking into account the mitigating and aggravating factors of the offences and the offender, a starting sentence of nine years be imposed with the necessary discounts, leaving the convict “around the four-year mark”.
But attorney-at-law Ajamu Boardi said his client had thrown himself at the mercy of the court by asking to be sentenced for both matters.
He added that the shotgun, according to the police gun expert, was inoperable.
“It is not working and . . . I submit it is more of a danger to himself than anyone else,” he said.
The defence lawyer also pointed out that Bryan had conceded the crimes were committed during a difficult period of his life.
“He was fascinated with the block culture and he wanted to be associated with that culture. He has seen the light, he had time in prison to reflect on his ways,” Boardi said in mitigation.
He urged the court to impose a fine of $5 000 for the first offence and time served for the second.
But Justice Greaves said he was “unable to accept” the submissions of the defence on sentencing and adopted that of the prosecution.
The judge explained that, generally, in such cases where offences are committed at different times, an accused man can expect a consecutive sentence.
Bryan’s cases, he said, would normally attract such a sentencing order given the fact that the second offence was committed while the convict was on bail for an identical offence.
He pointed to “an arrogant display of disregard for the law of this country and the safety of its citizens”.
“On the other hand, the law also recognises that where an accused is prepared upon conviction for an early offence to have other matters taken into account . . . at sentencing, the court can extend some leniency in the circumstances,” the judge added.
“The accused has been insistent from a pretty early stage that the second offence be taken into account; it was he who brought it to the attention of the court.”
Justice Greaves then imposed the nine-year starting sentence and credited the convict with a one-third discount for his guilty pleas. Bryan had also spent some 33 months on remand, which the judge rounded off to three years, leaving him with three more years to serve.
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