BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - A 21-year-old young man was sentenced to two years and eight months at Her Majesty's Prison, having pleaded guilty to indecent assault at the opening of the September Criminal Assizes.
The offence was committed against a female under the age of 16 on September 21, 2011 and the young man appeared before His Lordship Justice Errol Thomas last Thursday (Nov. 1) for sentencing.
Before being sentenced, he told the court that he would like to use the opportunity to apologise to the victim upon whom he inflicted pain.
"My actions we so abhorrent that the words 'I am sorry' are not enough to comfort the victim and her mother. I have no excuse, no excuse other than I was young and naive. I have been incarcerated for one year and that was enough for me to realise my mistake and learn from it," he said.
Justice Thomas, obviously surprised by the intellect with which the young man spoke and expressing his disappointment in his wasted brainpower, told him that he was too bright to be in prison and should be making a contribution to society.
"You are an intelligent person. You should know better," the judge said.
The youngster's Social Inquiry Report described him as a young man who is heading down the wrong path.
"The way he gave his explanation of what happened leaves one to ask what his true intentions were," the report said.
Before passing sentence, Justice Thomas told the man what he did was serious.
The young man was then sentenced to four years imprisonment which was reduced by one third because of his guilty plea, leaving him with a two year eight month term.
