Man to spend between four years and life in prison for elderly man’s death

A man who “tripped out” and brutally chopped an elderly man to death in his home six years ago — inflicting more than 40 wounds on him — could spend the rest of his life behind bars at Dodds Prison after a judge gave him an indeterminate sentence on Thursday.

An indeterminate sentence is a prison term without a fixed release date, requiring the offender to serve a minimum period before eligibility for review. In Floyd Alan Leacock’s case, his status will be reassessed every four years to determine whether he qualifies for release.

In a previous sitting of the High Court, Leacock entered a plea of not guilty of murdering 74-year-old Patrick Barker on February 12, 2019. He, however, admitted to the lesser charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The court accepted the plea due to his psychiatric assessment as schizophrenic.

Delivering his judgment in the No. 2 Supreme Court, Justice Randall Worrell told the 52-year-old resident of Clifton Hill, St Thomas, that society needed to be protected from him.

“A life having been lost, a vulnerable member of society clearly set upon in circumstances that could only be based on Mr Leacock’s ‘tripping’ out, a defenceless member of society being put at risk by someone who was clearly not in all of their senses at the time…it is quite clear that the only way that this court can properly deal with Mr Leacock is by way of an indeterminate sentence.

“The previous convictions of Mr Leacock, together with the fact that he is someone who is not willing to subject himself to the mental health clinic at the outpatient hospital, clearly leaves the public and society at his mercy. I do not think that it is safe for Mr Leacock to be given at this stage any determinate sentence based on what is contained in his psychiatric report or pre-sentencing report,” Justice Worrell asserted.

In addition, the judge ordered that the convicted man be housed at Dodds rather than the Psychiatric Hospital.

“I think it is appropriate in these circumstances, especially based on the events of last week emanating from the Psychiatric Hospital where a person escaped and brought extreme injury to at least three persons. My position is that Mr Leacock should be housed at the prison where he can be subjected to not only the strictures of the mental health clinic but also the drug rehabilitation process which this court underscores and orders that he continue to be part of throughout his rehabilitation,” he stated.

Justice Worrell then outlined the terms of the indeterminate sentence, informing Leacock, ”Every four years, you will be subjected to a psychiatric and psychological assessment, so your next period will be February 2029. Following that will be February 2033, February 2037, and February 2041. In accordance with the legislation, if it is found that you are in a position to be released by the court based on your psychiatric assessment, you can be released by way of a judge’s warrant based on that assessment. Likewise, if it is found that you cannot be so released, you will have to be sent back for another four-year period.”

During the sentencing hearing, Justice Worrell expressed concerns about Leacock’s behaviour prior to committing the offence, pointing out that even though he was incarcerated for previous convictions, he repeatedly refused to maintain medical treatment for his schizophrenia as an outpatient and continued to abuse cannabis, which exacerbated his mental illness.

The judge cited the report compiled by psychiatrist Dr Ronald Chase, which indicated that Leacock was required to take antipsychotic medication to maintain a stable mental state and that his relapses followed periods of non-compliance. The document outlined that Leacock, who had suffered from the mental illness for most of his life, had been admitted to the Psychiatric Hospital several times. His last admission to the institution was in April 2018, for verbally threatening relatives. After being released, he only attended one follow-up session the following month. The next time he received treatment for his condition was at Dodds Prison where he was remanded after being charged with Barker’s death.

The report also outlined that Leacock had been diagnosed with a co-occurring cannabis use disorder, as his illegal drug use negatively affected his mental state.

“What is clear from that report is that Mr Leacock has to be managed in some way and cannot be left to his own desires as far as drug rehabilitation is concerned and also the issue of mental health visits at the clinic,” the judge stated.

Justice Worrell said it was apparent that when subjected to a strict regimented institution such as Dodds, Leacock would attend its clinic and focus on drug rehabilitation — “things that he has not done in the past, despite the fact that he has been sentenced to prison”.

Pointing to Leacock’s four previous convictions, including for burglary with intent and burglary with intent to rape, Justice Worrell noted that his presentence report had deemed him to have a high risk for re-offending.

This report indicated that since receiving treatment at the prison, the convicted man has not had any noted violent episodes, suggesting that he “functions better in a controlled environment where his treatment and medication are strictly supervised, and that under these circumstances Mr Leacock’s risk to society is significantly reduced”.

Leacock was represented by attorneys Marlon Gordon and Jeremy Bowen.

Principal State Counsel Oliver Thomas, who prosecuted the case, told the court that Barker had been at his Walkes Spring, St Thomas home with his daughter when he heard glass breaking.

The woman said she looked outside and saw Leacock walking up and down the road with a cutlass, calling for Cave Man.

Leacock approached the house, broke the glass louvres in the door, reached through, unlocked it and entered the home. He rushed past the daughter and chopped at the retired mason’s head, repeatedly saying, “Ya disrespectful”.

The woman said her father raised his hands to protect his head, screaming, “You planning to kill me?”

She rushed out of the house to seek assistance from neighbours and family members. Her brother entered the house and found Leacock in his father’s bedroom, still chopping him. The son and other people threw objects to distract Leacock and eventually managed to subdue him and tie him up.

The elderly man died at the scene.

When he was initially interviewed, Leacock told the police that he was looking for Cave Man, but those in the house would not tell him if he was home. He also said when he broke into the house, everyone was armed with weapons and he was only defending himself by chopping Barker “three or four times”.

A post-mortem-report showed that the elderly man had received over 40 chops to his head, face and arms.