BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – RANDALL HANLEY will not only serve four years and eight months in prison for receiving but was also ordered to be given psychological counseling during his time there, by His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas, yesterday, Feb. 2.
Originally Hanley was charged with burglary but pleaded guilty to receiving several items said to belong to Rickford Hallequin.
According to the prosecution claims, a burglary occurred at Hallequin’s home on April 27, 2009, with a number of items being stolen including a cell phone, gold ring and shaving machine totaling to the value of EC$4,300.
During his sentence, Hanley asked for mercy and said that he acknowledged he did something wrong and made a bad decision.
“How many bad decisions have you made in your life? Where are you headed? You are a bright man,” said His Lordship. “Hanley isn’t it time you say enough is enough?”
At this point, the Director of Public Prosecution Paulina Hendrickson suggested that he also needed along with his sentencing some sort of psychological intervention and thinks that if intervention was done in the past he would not have been here today.
His social inquiry report which was prepared by Probation Officer Wingrove George stated that for years Hanley has been living the life of a wayward bandit since he was a child and that his bad behavior was a result of poor and in most cases total absence of parenting.
The report also stated that Hanley was a witness to a number of gruesome and awful crimes and accidents including a drowning of a child he was unable to rescue and was treated for nightmares to which he claims still continues to haunt him, he was also witness to a shooting death while on an errand for his mother and a witness to a stabbing.
“You have to say in your mind when you get out of this place I will start over, there are lots of rich people who started off with remedial jobs,” Justice Thomas said.
Hanley has previous convictions which include housebreaking, battery and carrying abroad offensive weapon.
The maximum sentence for receiving is 10 years and originally Hanley was given a seven year-sentence and had a third of his sentencing reduced due to his guilty plea.
“When you finish, take your life in your hand and say you’re not coming back here. You say you like English, do something with it,” Justice Thomas said.
