BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - TWO young men are currently awaiting sentencing at Her Majesty's Prison, with one of them having pleaded guilty and the other being found guilty on one count of rape and two counts of robbery.
The men, Jahmari Lake and Leon Jederon, were originally charged with robbery/receiving, rape and indecent assault, but the latter charge was dropped.
The trial began on Monday (Feb. 11) with the prosecution team led by Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Rhonda Nisbett-Browne calling some 14 witnesses to testify on behalf of the State.
Sometime during the trial, Jederon changed his not guilty plea to guilty but Lake attempted to maintain innocence and was unanimously convicted yesterday (Feb. 20) by a 12-member jury.
According to the facts of the case, sometime after 9:00 p.m. on April 26, 2011 while a woman was conversing with a female friend on the verandah of her home at Atlantic View, Conaree, Lake and Jederon, armed with guns, accosted them and demanded money.
The men forced the women into the house, took them into one of the bedrooms and tied their hands behind their backs.
They then proceeded to rummage through some drawers in the bedroom in search of money and other valuables but were unsuccessful.
Consequently, they took the visiting friend back to the verandah where she had left her handbag and removed an undisclosed amount of cash from it. They also robbed her of some pieces of jewellery she was wearing as well as her cellular phone.
The cash and items stolen amounted to over $47 000 in value.
The homeowner was sexually assaulted and the criminals also relieved her of her cellular phone.
They then escaped with one of the women’s vehicle, which the police later found abandoned on the West Basseterre By-pass Road in Buckley’s.
Less than 12 hours after the Conaree incident, police arrested and charged Jederon for possessing a firearm and a quantity of ammunition.
The men are expected to be sentenced within two weeks following the completion of their Social Inquiry Reports.
