Jail for ‘vicious crime’

Robbery is a “most vicious crime”, Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes said on Friday as he sentenced a 27-year-old man to 18 months in prison.

Kemo Avery Grant of 1st Avenue Greaves Land, Black Rock, St Michael was jailed after he pleaded guilty to robbing Tamarald Haynes of a cellular phone worth $1 300 and $9 cash on October 8.

Haynes, accompanied by another female, had parked her vehicle in the vicinity of the Catholic Church along Black Rock Main Rock when Grant approached them, pointed what appeared to be a firearm and demanded that they hand over their property.

Constable Ralph Rollock said out of fear for her life the complainant handed over her belongings and Grant ran off.

The prosecutor also disclosed that the convicted man is known to the courts and is on bail with similar matters pending.

Addressing the Chief Magistrate, Grant asked for help with his drug addiction.

“I was smoking some cocaine. [I am] asking the court for some type of help. I was on this cocaine from since last year December,” he said, adding that he had tried to get help at the Psychiatric Hospital but “didn’t get through and this drugs thing keep getting worse and worse”.

But Weekes told Grant to think of the fear he had instilled in those females “and the terror they would have gone through”.

“What is significant about that is they will not be able to get through this for a while,” he said.

“People must be free to sit in car parks and beaches without interruption . . . . A lot of that no longer exists because of this conduct. There are too many services available for persons on drugs to use but what is happening is that people are relying on us who work for the state to do the work.”

Chief Magistrate Weekes said he would take into consideration that Grant had pleaded guilty on his first opportunity and had not wasted the court’s time.

“But robbery is a most vicious crime,” he insisted.

He then sentenced Grant to 18 months in prison with an order that he undergo drug counselling while serving his time at the St Philip penal institution.

However, Grant’s legal problems are not over as he is scheduled to reappear before the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court on April 24, 2023, on another charge.