BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE five Sandy Pointers who pleaded guilty to the robbing of 17 tourists (including a baby) on November 14, 2010 were yesterday (July 19) slammed with maximum sentences for the various offences with which they were charged.
The men - Elroy ‘Stanny’ Williams of Crab Hill, Sandy Point; Delvin ‘Stobie’ Francis of St. Paul’s; Curtis Long of Downing Street, Sandy Point; Junior ‘Q’ Sobratie of Sandy Point; and George ‘Naddy’ Welsh of Fig Tree – yesterday (July 19) appeared before His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas at the Basseterre High Court for sentencing.
They were indicted on four counts of robbery, one count of assault with intent to rob, one count of accessory before the fact and one count of conspiracy to rob, and had pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing during the 2012 January Assizes.
However, on June 6, Sobratie, Williams and Long each pleaded guilty to one count of robbery while Francis and Welsh both pleaded guilty to accessory before the fact and were yesterday given the maximum minus one-third for their guilty plea.
Four of the five men - Williams, Sobratie, Long, and Welsh - were therefore sentenced to 13 years and three months, while Francis was given six years and eight months.
According to the Social Inquiry Reports conducted on the individuals, Long and Sobratie showed no remorse for their actions.
Long, who celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday, was said to have only pleaded guilty to avoid the full extent of the law, while Sobratie, it was reported, shows no respect for his country and thinks only of himself.
Francis and Welsh's report said that they regretted their involvement in the incident, and were described as industrious and hard working individuals.
Williams on the other hand was described as the "master mind" behind the robbery, having planned the entire event. His report stated that he showed remorse, and that he pleaded guilty for the sake of his father [Welsh] (also convicted) who at first knew nothing about the matter.
Before passing judgment on the convicts, Justice Thomas spoke to each of them.
He told Williams that he is no doubt the intellectual author of the crime that was committed.
"You are no fool and at the same time you know the law. You have reached a milestone and you must pay for what you did," he said.
The judge said that the nature of the crime was paramount, and that is was carefully planned and executed.
In addressing Long and Sobratie, Justice Thomas simply said that they were in the forefront of the robbery and that their involvement was no different to Williams'.
In the case of Francis, the judge told him that there was nothing to show that he knew exactly what was going to take place, "but you knew it was either a robbery or a shooting...Although your car broke down, you were involved beforehand."
Welsh, His Lordship said, is the father of Williams and allowed him [Williams] to bring him into to the crime from an early stage with just one phone call.
"You are a big experienced man. After you got the phone call and did what you had to do the night before, you had, you had the chance to back down but you did not. This puts you in the forefront."
His Lordship explained that the matter was a very important one, noting that society must extract its revenge and send a clear message.
He said because the victims were tourists and the country suffered for a while because of the crime, that had to be taken into consideration and could not be taken lightly.
The men were then handed their prison sentences.
According to the facts of the case, Williams carefully planned the robbery and contacted the persons he wanted to carry out the crime to which they agreed.
On the night of November 13, 2010 Francis was contacted by Williams who wanted to borrow his car "to do a mission."
Francis agreed and was told to pick up Williams, Long, Sobratie and another person which he was in the process of doing when his car broke down.
Williams then telephoned his father [Welsh], who agreed to complete what Francis could not.
The men then travelled to Brimstone Hill with their guns, masks and machete and organised their crime scene.
They cut the large tree branch and put it to the side of the road and they hid their firearms and masks to be used the following morning.
On the morning of November 14, 2010 the men again gathered at Brimstone Hill, arranged their crime scene by putting the large tree branch in the road to block the tour bus when it came.
They then robbed the tourists of their valuables and cash and made their escape through thick bushes in the area.
The maximum sentence for a crime of this nature is 20 years.
