BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – JUST five days after two men were freed of charges laid against them due to lack of incriminating evidence, two more young men have been united with their families and friends after being incarcerated for more than nine months at Her Majesty’s Prison.
Sylvester ‘Syl’ Crossley and Vance Thomas, both of Fort Thomas Road, Basseterre, were on Tuesday (Nov. 27) at a Preliminary Inquiry set free by Her Worship Josephine Mallalieu-Webbe.
The two men were jointly charged with the murder of 29-year-old Miguel ‘Bashment’ Robinson of Lime Kiln, who died under a hail of bullets in Haynes Smith Village on the night of Friday, February 17, 2012.
The two men were represented by Natasha Grey of Chesley Hamilton and Associates at the Preliminary Hearing, who informed this publication that State Prosecutor Corporal Francis had called upon a number of witnesses to prove to the court that Crossley and Thomas were the individuals who shot and killed Robinson.
Among the witnesses were a female officer and a Superintendent of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force.
Grey also informed that the female officer identified the accused in Court as the men whom she arrested and charged for the offence, but she could not positively identify them as the two individuals who shot and killed Robinson.
Also, that the Superintendent told the Court he was present when the incident occurred, but on hearing the reports of gunfire he quickly ran away from the scene and had suffered cramps in both of his legs.
He, too, did not identify the accused as the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
The Attorney noted that because of the lack of evidence, Chief Magistrate Mallalieu-Webbe set the men free.
On the morning after the shooting-death of Robinson, SKNVibes visited the scene and had observed two technicians of the Crime Scene Department combing the area, where they found a number of spent shells and other items of evidential value that they took into custody for further analysis.
Speaking with some residents in the area, a number of them, under the condition of anonymity, told this media house that shortly before 9:00 p.m., Robinson had purchased and eaten a meal at Razba Ital Shop on St. Johnston Avenue just before he died.
“I was told that Bashment went and eat at Razba and he wanted a bottle of water but Razba didn’t have any. So, he parked his scooter by Razba and walked to Four Ways Bar at Union Ally. When he reached the shop, a lot of persons were there including a Police Inspector. He hailed up some of the boys and suddenly a shot rang out and Bashment fall to the ground just outside the shop.
“Bashment doesn’t normally lime in this area and I believe that he was followed, because two masked men were seen while he was entering the bar. One of them was at the alley opposite the shop and the other was in the alley west of the shop. The first bullet hit Bashment in his head and when he fall the two masked men went over him and pumped more bullets into him. They then run through the alley west of the shop firing bullets and made their escape along St. Johnston Avenue,” one individual said.
This media house also learnt that upon hearing the first shot fired and seeing Robinson falling to the ground, most of the customers in the bar ran away from the scene while a number of others sought the nearest possible cover for safety.
“The gunmen knew exactly who they wanted to kill and they had to be following Bashment, because nobody else was injured though many persons were in the bar. They could have fired shots randomly into the shop, but they did not. They fired one and that had to be an aimed shot; it hit him in his head and after he fall they fired seven more shots into various parts of his body,” another individual told SKNVibes.
Less than 24 hours after the incident, press release disseminated by the police informed that 19-year-old Sylvester ‘Syl’ Crossley and Vance Thomas, also 19 years old, both of Fort Thomas Road, were charged with Robinson’s murder.
The release also stated that Head of the Criminal Investigation Department Inspector Charles Smithen “in his quest to maintain the confidence of the general public with the CID was able to ensure that such charges were preferred within 20 hours of this tragic event”.
“The Commissioner of Police,” it added, “acknowledges the hard work of the officers involved in the investigation but would like to publicly acknowledge you the general public for your support, as without such support that you have given to us in our philosophy to regain the street of the Federation our success would not become a reality.
“As we continue to be united in our success we urge you the public to remain cognisant of the personal safety and security tips previously published and we do look forward to your continued support in other matters under investigation within the Federation at this time.”
On Thursday, November 22, 2012, Kirk ‘Scotty’ Hobson and Kimo Flemming also walked out of the Basseterre Magistrate’s Court free of the charges proffered against them.
They were charged for the June 1, 2012 shooting of Damien Weekes, Dion Hollomon and Vernal Chumney while they were in a shop on Union Street in Haynes Smith Village.
The men’s attorney was the same person who represented Crossley and Thomas, and she told this publication that at the Preliminary Inquiry, State Prosecutor Corporal Francis had “withdrawn the charges against the two accused with liberty to come again and the magistrate told them that they were free to go”.
Grey explained that since charged in June, the matter came up on a number of occasions, twice in October, and the Chief Magistrate, Her Worship Josephine Mallalieu-Webbe had then indicated that if the prosecution could not have presented evidence to prove the two accused were guilty as charged, the matter would progress no further.
The Attorney-at-Law further explained that the “prosecution gave disclosure but nothing was there to implicated the two men”.
According to SKNVibes’ record, the matter of Crossley and Thomas brings to six cases for which the police had arrested and charged individuals and were dismissed for lack of evidence.
The other five cases which involved nine men are as follow:
a. Lewis Welsh Jr. of View Point, Sandy Point, who had alleged that he was beaten by two members of the Delta Squad on January 21, 2012 and was subsequently charged with assault and battery on police;
b. Shawn Bradshaw of Parson’s Ground, who was charged with the January 26, 2012 murder of Elvin Elvis Stanley and had spent almost four months in Her Majesty’s Prison;
c. Bernell ‘BJ’ Whyte, Ryan Warner and Audinton Syder, who were arrested on Sunday, May 27, 2012 and jointly charged with assault with intent to rob three persons in Frigate Bay;
d. Joseph ‘Galvanise’ Hazel of Bird Rock and Keston Martin of Parson’s Ground, who were jointly charged with the January 26, 2012 murder of Elvin Elvis Stanley; and
e. Kirk ‘Scotty’ Hobson of Stapleton Village and also of McKnight and Kimo Flemming of Trafalgar Village.
