BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – DESPITE what some had termed “a heartfelt plea”, the trial judge showed no mercy and yesterday (Oct. 14) sentenced Leon Sutton to serve three years at Her Majesty’s Prison for possession of housebreaking implements.
After a 12-member jury returned a mixed verdict (11-1) that found Sutton guilty of the offence on September 23, 2010, yesterday he appeared before His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas for his sentencing hearing.
In his plea for leniency, Sutton spoke of the way he grew up and the attempts he made to acquire work to assist his grandmother and the well being of his younger siblings.
With tears running down his cheeks, Sutton told the court of the deep love he has for his grandmother, whom he said he would always listen to whenever she had cause to upbraid or advise him.
“My grandmother looked out for me. I used to be in a gang and my grandmother took me. She told me she didn’t want to see me in no gang. My grandmother showed me love and I have a lot of respect for her,” he said.
Sutton said while at a very young age he and his siblings were left in his grandmother’s care because his mother had left for overseas to make a better living for them.
He testified that on the night of the incident he almost died and he did not know at that time that his girlfriend was pregnant. Sutton said that following the incident his girlfriend had told him she was pregnant, and he noted that ‘Jah’ had given him a second chance to fullfill his purpose as a father.
“I started working a nine to five so I can take care of my family. I’m asking for a second chance in life,” he pleaded.
Sutton asked the court to be lenient and to give him a fine or have him placed on probation.
In the social report, Probation Officer Jerrold Connor recommended that Sutton be given a suspended sentencing.
His grandmother, Gloria Stead of Freeman’s Village, also spoke on his behalf.
Stead said that Sutton was very honest and respectful, and asked begged the court to give him another chance in making his life better.
“He would always call me grandma. Even when the others wouldn’t, he would say grandma,” she said.
However, Justice Thomas was stern in his sentencing and stated that Sutton was given too many chances, as he has been 11 times before the court.
Justice Thomas said that except for 2005, Sutton had been in the court every year from 2001 to 2007 and, although he was no longer a juvenile after February 2003, he still continued to commit crimes.
“The magistrate was very lenient with you, but for me to give you a chance would be sending the wrong signal to other persons. It is frightening, especially when this incident occurred when most persons were sleeping,” he said.
His Lordship said that Sutton’s last conviction was in 2007 and in the space of seven months he was again in trouble with the law.
Some of his previous convictions include assault, possession of cannabis and battery.
“He shows he can do better if he so desires, but he has taken a steady crime path and I cannot entertain any notion of a second chance. He has had too many chances…I will sentence you to three years in prison,” Justice Thomas said.
Evidence brought before the court stated that on June 3, 2008, Sutton was found in possession of a steel cutter, a wrench and the top portion of a lock in the Wades Garden area.
Edward Drew and Judith Sampson, both police officers, testified that they responded to a report and had met the accused at Wades Garden with a bullet wound to his leg.
They said a bag that he was carrying was filled with certain implements including a steel cutter.
Sampson said she knows the accused from Saddlers Village and had responded to the report about 4:00 a.m. She also told the court that Sutton said a masked man had shot him and placed the stuff in his bag.
In his defence, Sutton said he was residing in Freeman’s Village for some four years, and that on the day in question he had left Market Street to visit a friend in St. Johnson Village.
Sutton said after he was shot he “played dead” in order to fool the gunman, whom he noted eventually fled the scene.
He also told the court that he is a former gang member but, at the time of the incident, was no longer in any gang because of his grandmother’s influence.
Upon the reading of his sentence, his grandmother and another lady who was identified as his aunt, cried out in court.
As he left the courthouse, Sutton’s daughter, who appeared to be two years old, gave him a kiss and cried for her 25-year-old father as he was led off to Her Majesty’s Prison.
