Jason Gilbert sentenced to 15 years with hard labour
By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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| Jason Guilbert being taken to HMP to begin serving his 15 years sentence |
Basseterre, St. Kitts: Twenty-six year old Jason Gilbert will spend the next 15 years of his life as a resident of Her Majesty’s Prison, serving hard labour, as he was convicted of a burglary offence.
Gilbert’s case began yesterday where he stood before a three man/nine woman jury of his peers.
According to the Prosecution’s case, during the early morning hours of 3rd June 2006 Gilbert forcibly entered the home of Veronica Caines who resides at Dorset Village; with the sole purpose of killing her.
Caines was the first witness to take the stand and while there, she recounted the grueling details of the incident.
She said that on the evening of the 2nd June 2006 she secured her home and retired to bed early wherefrom she watched television until she fell asleep.
“I was on my tummy and felt a grab at the back of my neck. He pulled me up. He said ‘Get up. I come to kill you.’ … I begged him please don’t kill me. He said he has to kill me. …He came up on the bed, he kept stabbing … I kept calling on the name Jesus.” ~~Adz:Right~~
Caines told the court that during the incident, she called repeatedly on the name of Jesus and on two instances, she was told by Gilbert to be quiet but as she refused to do so, she was boxed in the face.
“I called ‘Smokie help! Help Smokie! (Gilbert) said ‘I got to kill you and I must kill you.’ So I told him to take what he wants and he asked me to give him what I have.”
The virtual complainant said that it was about that time that the cloth which Gilbert had covering the lower portion of his face fell, following which he struggled to re-cover his face but efforts were futile.
“…I gave him a $100, a $50 and a US$20… I told him to take the bag with the money and don’t kill me. …He started stabbing again. I started calling on Jesus”
Caines said she managed to block the stabs with her hands and as a result, “all my fingers got cut”.
Caines’ next-door neighbour, Earl “Smokie” DeCosta, the second prosecution witness to take the stand said when the incident was taking place, he was at home sleeping but the sound of “a voice crying out” awoke him.
“…I heard a voice crying out and because of the noise I got up and I listened. I said ‘that voice sounds like Veronica.’ The person was saying ‘Lord Lord! Help help! … I got up and went out on the veranda. I saw Veronica in her bedroom. The light in her bedroom was on so I rushed over in her yard and I asked her what happened to her. She said ‘Smokie, a thief is in me house!’ I said ‘What happened to you?’ She said, ‘Lord my neighbour is in my house!’ So I went up on the step and tried to get the front door open. It was locked. I could not get in.”
DeCosta said that; that was when he called for the help of the other neighbours and the call was answered by Elvis McCoy. He said that both himself and McCoy managed to get Caines out of the house through the bedroom window.
Gilbert, during the trial, opted to take the stand and tell the jury of his side of the story but it was not enough to convince them that he was innocent of the charge.
Earlier this afternoon, the jury returned a unanimous verdict and Presiding Judge, Francis Belle sentenced Gilbert to serve 15 years in prison with hard labour.
Gilbert was taken to Her Majesty’s Prison to begin serving his sentence.
