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Posted: Monday 25 May, 2015 at 2:25 PM

Judge sentences two soldiers for raping girl 16

Sir Lee Llewellyn Moore Legal and Judicial Complex
By: Stanford Conway, SKNVibes.com

    BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TWO former Lance Corporals (LCPLs) of the St. Kitts-Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF) were on Thursday (May 21) each given a 16-year sentence after the Court found them guilty of raping a 16-year-old female.

     

    The two ex-soldiers, LCPL Charles Bowry, also known as ‘Babash’ and ‘Bingo’, of Upper Bourkes Project in Sandy Point, and LCPL Jamal Phillip of Manchester Avenue, Newton, were found guilty of the offence and convicted on Monday, March 16, 2015.

    Approximately two weeks ago, the two men had again appeared at the Basseterre High Court before Justice Marlene Carter who, after listening to a number of persons speaking on their behalf, deferred the sentencing hearing to Thursday (May 21). 

    According to the St. Kitts-Nevis Observer, both convicts and their family members broke down in tears in court when Her Ladyship handed down the 16-year sentence.

    According to information reaching this publication, sometime between 12:30 and 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 19, 2011 while the teenager was standing on the road leading into Shadwell Estate in the vicinity of the renowned Shadwell Great House, an army patrol vehicle stopped close to her and a soldier ordered her to get into it.

    The girl refused and one of the soldiers who was seated in the cab allegedly disembarked and pushed her into the vehicle, where she was forced to sit between he and the driver.
     
    Information further stated that she was taken to the historic Fort Thomas Hotel and raped by two soldiers in one of the bars by the poolside.
     
    An informed source had told this publication that after raping the 16-year-old, the soldiers placed her back into the vehicle, drove to the Newtown playfield and left her there in the company of another soldier.
     
    “They however returned sometime after with the same truck and drove all the way to Upper Monkey Hill and leave her there,” the source added.
     
    SKNVibes had also learned that while in Upper Monkey Hill, the girl went to the home of one of her cousins to whom she told of the incident.

    The two soldiers were later identified as Bowry and Phillip and were charged for the offence on Thursday, February 24, 2011. At the time of the incident Bowry was 39 years old and Phillip was 35.

    Speaking with SKNVibes, Public Affairs Officer Captain Kayode Sutton said that on conviction, the two LCPLs were demoted and dishonourably discharged from the SKNDF. 

    “After we learnt that the two Lance Corporals were charged for allegedly raping the 16-year-old girl, according to Standing Order Procedures, they were suspended and were in receipt of half month salary. 

    “If at the end of the trial they were exonerated of the charges laid against them, they would have received the other half of their salary, no matter how long the case may have taken to conclude. However, being found guilty as charged has damaged not only their character and reputation but their action has also placed a ‘stain’ on this disciplined organisation.”

    Captain Sutton stated that although it is a fact that man is a product of his environment, the Defence Force is total institution and does not encourage its members to be engaged in deviant behaviour.

    “One may come from an environment that is historically known for violence and other forms of deviant behaviour. But, regardless of an individual’s mindset, when he joins this corps of venerable men there is a metamorphosis (from civilian to military) through training in which he inculcates discipline and a great sense of responsibility in the protection of his country and its inhabitants.”

    He however lamented that Bowry and Phillip did not live up to the Defence Force’s mandate.












     
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