BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IT was because of their guilty plea and age that Akeem Christopher 19, and Curtis Isaac 22, were given leniency and not given the full extent of the law for the crimes they committed.
Christopher and Isaac were sentenced to five years and four months each to run concurrently for two courts of housebreaking and larceny.
The two men who originally pleaded not guilty to building breaking and larceny changed their pleas later on in the assizes, which the judge said was a good move by them.
Christopher and Isaac were jointly convicted of building breaking and larceny at Evelyn’s Grouping, located at the Paul Southwell Industrial Site and at the Fisheries Complex.
They stole a number of items totaling EC$351. 95 and among the items were a microphone, a khaki pant and 18 CD’s from Evelyn’s Grouping.
Before they were sentenced Christopher said he wanted to apologize to the court and the people he wronged and that he comes from a single parent home and that his mother has it hard.
Isaac said that he is aware of the situation and that it was bad and spoke with his co-accused about the situation they were in and said they needed to take a different path.
A social inquiry report was prepared by Gerald Connor who said that Christopher was born to parents who neglected him and was given several opportunities to reform but still walked down the negative road while Isaac who grew up in Nevis was a promising sportsman who represented Nevis in Cricket and Track & Field.
The report stated that Isaac was friends with the wrong crowd.
Justice Errol Thomas said that it is time they took a different road.
“How in God’s name you get into the people’s business with all that security, you make the security look like a joke,” he said.
According to the evidence the businesses were secured with metal doors, power locks, hurricane shutters and dead bolts.
“You make the power bolts look like a joke and make the dead bolts look like match sticks. The businesses spent money to secure their property and now they will have to spend more,” Justice Thomas said.
