Leacock jailed for life for killing another woman with whom he had a child
By Fernella Wedderburn
“Cold-blooded” murderer Patrick Nathaniel Leacock will spend the rest of his life in prison for brutally killing Zanaba Moore in the presence of their two-year-old daughter four years ago.
Moore died on April 23, 2019, after sustaining 24 stab wounds to the upper body, including two that pierced her heart and one to the lung, in a premeditated attack by a man against whom she had a protection order. It was the second time that Leacock killed a woman with whom he had a child.
“Patrick Nathaniel Leacock, I consider that the seriousness of your offending was exceptionally high based on the circumstances. You are hereby sentenced to a whole life order. This means that you will be kept in prison for the rest of your life,” Madam Justice Pamela Beckles ruled on Wednesday.
“A whole life sentence is draconian but is an appropriate penalty in cases of exceptionally serious criminality.”
Leacock, alias Pockets, of Carmichael Tenantry, St George, had pleaded guilty to non-capital murder.
He and Moore had been in a relationship which was described as “rocky”, and the woman obtained a protection order against Leacock in February 2019.
He was ordered not to go to Moore’s house and to keep a distance of at least 100 yards from her and instructed not to hit, beat, choke or physically assault her. However, on the morning of April 23, 2019, Moore’s 18-year-old son was awoken by a commotion, and when he went into the living room/kitchen area of their Frere Pilgrim, Christ Church home, he saw Leacock stabbing his 39-year-old mother. The former couple’s daughter was at the table eating breakfast at the time.
“This was a deliberate, callous, cold-blooded killing of an unarmed woman in the sanctity of her own home and in the presence of her children – a woman whom you claimed to love and yet attacked and killed so savagely,” the judge stated.
“The offence was committed in the presence of the deceased’s children, a teen boy and your own two-year-old daughter who must have been traumatised and terrified by what they witnessed. Your attack was brutal. It was overkill, as described by a member of the community, in that the deceased was stabbed 24 times by you, and one can only imagine how much she suffered.”
Moore was stabbed in the chest, back and upper arms.
In handing down the whole life sentence in the No. 5 Supreme Court as Leacock, who no longer wears dreadlocks, sat quietly in the dock, Justice Beckles said the court had considered whether the convict should be afforded any chance or reintegration into society even though he has committed the most egregious offence.
She pointed out that it was not the first time that Leacock had taken the life of a mother of his child. In February 2010, he was sentenced to five years in prison for the March 31, 2001 unlawful killing of his girlfriend Tracia Cave with whom he had a son.
The judge also noted that Leacock had ten previous convictions, mainly for offences of a violent nature, some involving women.
Justice Beckles said the attack on Moore was “premeditated and unprovoked”, as Leacock entered the woman’s residence through a window, armed with a knife, after asking around the night before about her whereabouts.
“In the circumstances, this court . . . determined that an appropriate starting point is a sentence of life imprisonment,” she said, noting that Leacock also had an unfavourable pre-sentencing report.
All three reports on him – pre-sentencing, psychiatric and psychological – all suggested, according to the judge, that he was at a high risk of committing a similar offence.
“You had a chance at rehabilitation and reintegration into society before, and it failed. Who or what is to say that it will succeed this time around, and should the chance be taken?
“Even your mother spoke of your history of violence, particularly within your intimate partner relationships. Your father described you as ‘demon-possessed’ and asserted that you should remain in prison as it would be difficult to determine at what age you would not pose a threat to women,” Justice Beckles said.
Leacock, who was 42 years old when he killed Moore, had spent 1 597 days on remand.
He was represented by attorney-at-law Verla De Peiza. Principal State Counsel Krystal Delaney, State Counsel Tito Holder and Senior State Counsel Joyann Catwell were the prosecutors.
Leacock is the third man to receive a whole life sentence in Barbados this year.
fernellawedderburn@barbadostoday.bb
