BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – KEVIN FRANCIS’ reason for committing a gun-related crime did very little in lessening his sentence and he is now serving a term at Her Majesty’s Prison.
Francis, who resides at Parsons, appeared before the Basseterre High Court of Justice on charges of “wounding with intent” and “unlawful wounding” and he pleaded guilty to the latter.
He re-appeared late last week before His Lordship Justice Francis Belle for his sentencing hearing at which point he offered an explanation for his actions.
The facts of the case, as were read in court, are that on May 18, 2009, at a shop in Parsons, Francis pulled out a black handgun and pointed it at the virtual complainant (VC) Vincent ‘Horse Head’ Warner. The VC ran and was pursued by the accused, who shot him in his right leg. The incident was reported at the St. Pauls Police Station.
Francis explained to the court that two days before, he was approached by Warner and another individual who took his chain from around his neck and money from his pocket. He further explained that he decided to take matters into his own hands and approached the VC a couple of days later. He said he asked him for his chain and after being ignored, he proceeded to shoot Warner in his leg.
The 24-year-old was chastised by Justice Belle and questioned as to why he thought it best to take matters into his own hands rather than reporting the initial chain-snatching incident to the authorities.
His Lordship told the young man that while the court is happy that its time was not wasted, he acted as judge, jury and executioner which would not be tolerated. Justice Belle explained that if this mode of thinking is allowed to continue unchecked, criminals would rule the streets and law-abiding citizens would be prisoners in their own homes.
Francis was sentenced to serve six years in prison with hard labour; one year shy of the maximum penalty for that offence.
