Judge tells young convict to stay clear of friends

“Be wary of the friends that you keep.”

Those words of caution were shared by Justice Randall Worrell with a young man whose life was derailed following an unwise decision to hold a firearm for an associate.

The advice was given to Ranaldo Sanata Trim when he reappeared in the No. 2 Supreme Court this morning.

Trim, of 3rd Avenue, Licorish Village, My Lord’s Hill, St Michael, was back before Justice Worrell for sentencing having pleaded guilty to having a .38 revolver and one round of ammunition in his possession on May 19, 2020.

The young offender, who was 21 at the time of the offence, lost out on an opportunity for a football scholarship after he was remanded to prison for the offence.

Justice Worrell told the convicted man one bad decision had turned his promising life upside down.

“It is unfortunate that you were placed in the position in which you are because of friends, but your life seemed to have been running quite smoothly until this incident occurred. It is unfortunate because you were the recipient of a scholarship…

“We don’t understand why you have found yourself in this position but we take it that based on the facts that you were basically placed in the position by a friend and one would hope that you would know from now on to be very wary of friends. To not be able to proceed with the scholarship is I think extremely frustrating for you. That may have been a gateway to better things or to much better things but we have to take it as it is. It is a hard lesson which you have had to learn,” Justice Worrell told him.

“We don’t understand why you have found yourself in this situation. You had a glowing future ahead of you which you have in some ways lost. Academically there doesn’t seem to be a problem with you, as far as your sporting prowess is concerned there doesn’t seem to be a problem. You are a national player, we don’t understand, to be quite honest with you Mr Trim, why you would have fallen afoul of the law but you did fall afoul of the law and we have to treat you that way and we also have to treat to you based on your individual characteristics.”

Justice Worrell said he had considered a starting point of eight years for the offence.

He said having looked at Trim’s personal circumstances there was nothing that spoke badly of him.

As a result, he said the starting point would be reduced by two years bringing it to six years or 2190 days.

He said he would be given a one-third discount for his early guilty plea, further reducing it to four years.

Justice Worrell said the 491 days Trim spent on remand would also be deducted, leaving 969 days left on the sentence.

However, he said the court did not believe it was necessary for him to be incarcerated any further.

“The court is of the opinion that it will fine you in respect of the matters before the court. The fine in respect of the first count is $15, 000 and that is to be paid in three months or you will spend 969 days in prison. In respect of the one round of ammunition the fine of this court is $2500 and that is also to be paid in three months or you will also spend the 969 days in prison,” Justice Worrell said.

The matter was prosecuted by Crown Counsel Romario Straker while Angela Mitchell-Gittens appeared on behalf of Trim.

According to the facts of the case, on the mentioned date Trim was at the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) where he was a member of the sports programme.

Acting on information received, police went to the BDF and transported Trim to the District ‘A’ Police Station where he indicated that a firearm being sought was in his vehicle at the Garrison.

He was taken to the Garrison and a search was conducted. The firearm and ammunition were discovered in the trunk of his vehicle.

In rendering an apology to the court, Trim said he had found himself in the situation because of someone he considered a friend.