BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – A young male resident of St. Peters Village was sentenced to seven years in prison on Thursday, July 15, 2010 after being found guilty of burglary.
Tamboie Huggins, charged for burglarising the Ogee Village home of Kendall Blanchard on April 26, 2008, appeared before His Lordship Francis Belle at the Basseterre High Court and was told that crime does not pay. Justice Belle also told him that although it is not customary for the court to look at his juvenile record, he realised that he has a tendency to disobey the law.
The judge further told him that he hopes the structure of the prison does something to change that tendency.
Just before the pronouncement of his sentence, defence counsel Chesley Hamilton told the court that he knew His Lordship would impose a custodial sentence on Huggins and pleaded for the sentence not to be at the higher end of the range, but something that would allow for rehabilitation.
In his social report, the probation officer suggested that Huggins spend some time in jail.
The prosecutor said Huggins and two others had stolen EC$1 200, a cellular phone and a DVD player from Blanchard’s home.
His second appearance in court in this matter was on July 1, 2010 and a 12-member jury brought him in guilty on a 11-1 verdict.
Blanchard told the court that at the time of the incident he and his girlfriend were at home sleeping in the living room and he was awakened by her screams.
The self-employed man said when he awoke, he saw an object he believed to be a firearm pointing at him and someone saying, “Don’t move or I’ll kill you”.
Blanchard told the court that the men’s faces were covered and they placed a sheet over his head and tied him up. He further said one of the men asked him for money and that he recognised the voice to be that of Huggins, because he had known him for over 10 years.
However, Huggins’ lawyer had referred to the evidence in court as circumstantial during his closing arguments.
“They have nothing against him, the wallet being found outside where Tamboei lives is circumstantial. No one said they saw him with a bike…nothing is consistent with him being one of the persons,” Hamilton said.
