BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – KENRICK THOMAS’ freedom was completely stripped from him yesterday (Mar. 9) when he was sentenced to reside at Her Majesty’s Prison for the commission of a gun-related offence.

The young man, said to be in his 20s, was accused of robbing Chere-Anne Caines of her Cuban-link 14k gold neck chain, with the aid of a firearm.

The prosecution’s case suggested that Thomas, sometime after 11:15 on the night of April 16, 2009, approached Caines while she was about to enter her Nevis Street home, put a gun to her head and removed the item from around her neck.

Prosecution evidence implied that en route to her home, Caines walked through the Dorset basketball court and along College Street, and on more than one occasion she saw the accused.  She described Thomas’ attire during those sightings and noted that he was similarly dressed when the offence was committed.

Thomas denied his involvement in the incident, citing that he was with his girlfriend at her home before, during and sometime after the offence was committed. His own witness however, his girlfriend, while corroborating portions of his testimony, left more questions than answers relative to his possible involvement in the act and his whereabouts prior to the occurrence.

Thomas told the court that he remembered being at his girlfriend’s house on that night in particular, as it was the night that his girlfriend’s mother discovered him concealing himself in her bedroom closet. He also said that that was the only night he had slept at his girlfriend’s home.

This, and others, proved to be a point of conflict, and according to his girlfriend, he slept at her home regularly.

After listening to all the evidence and receiving directions on the law from the trial judge, His Lordship Justice Francis Belle, the jury retired for deliberations and emerged approximately one hour after with a unanimous verdict, erasing Thomas’ presumed innocence.

The first-time-offender was sentenced by His Lordship to serve 10 years at Her Majesty’s Prison. His Lordship also ordered that Thomas serve his sentence with “hard labour”.