Soldier’s sentencing hearing continues tomorrow

By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

Defence Force Private Louis Richards

On October, 14, 2008 Richards was convicted of the manslaughter of Clyde Williams; an offence which took place on August 3, 2007. He was originally charged with Williams’ murder and the “wounding with intent” of Addren ‘Ado’ Searles and Jevon ‘Herbie’ Woodley.

According to evidence presented in the case, Richards, while sitting at Lovers Bar in Old Road, was fired upon and a bullet struck him in the buttock. He took cover and shortly thereafter discharged one round from his service firearm hitting Searles in the arm and Williams in the stomach.

Richards later walked to the eastern end of Old Road in the company of his fellow Strike Force (SF) operatives and, according to his testimony, he saw Woodley hoisting his shirt as to remove a firearm from his waist. Richards shot Woodley once and as he tried to flee, and in the process shot him two more times.

Richards told the court that three persons were shooting at him, two of whom he identified as Searles and Woodley. 

The hearing opened with a statement from Major Cornel Kelly of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF), made on behalf of the convicted man.

Kelly told the court that Richards applied to the Force as a recruit in 2001 and was successful.  He said during his recruit training, Richards progressed and passed all subjects and excelled in small arms training.  ~~Adz:Right~~

The Major described Richards as a disciplined and dedicated soldier and explained that after his induction into the “A Company” of the SKNDF, a course was held at which he excelled following his membership in the SF.

The Senior Officer told the court that despite Richard had his run-ins with the penal system, he was an outstanding soldier who has twice represented the SKNDF at the Regional Training System.

Kelly further told the court that Richards excelled in his duties as a member of the SF and also as a soldier. He explained that Richard’s work led to his life being threatened on several occasions, which in turn warranted him lodging complaints with the police.

In response, His Lordship Justice Francis Belle said while information presented in testimonials must be considered by the court, it must be weighed against other factors such as evidence presented in the case on which Richards was convicted.

Justice Belle made specific mention of Richards’ Social Inquiry Report in which he [Richards] recounted the happenings of the night of incident. Justice Belle noted that Richards told of a five-minute lapse between the time he was shot and the time he returned fire. 

His Lordship, in questioning the Major, also made mention of the fact that during the trial no witness said they saw Addren Searles with a firearm when he was shot by Richards.  According to the evidence, the Judge said, Richards shot two unarmed men in the persons of Searles and Williams.

Particularly disturbing, the Judge said, was the fact that while on the witness stand Richards testified that he did not see Clyde Williams on the night of the shooting even though witnesses spoke to the deceased after was shot.

Major Kelly, just before leaving the witness stand, asked the court to show compassion to Richards in sentencing him.

The convicted soldier is to return to court at 9:00 on Tuesday morning for a continuation of the hearing.