Devon Bedford and Shaunlee Fahie, were whisked away by prison officials shortly after they were both sentenced to three years for aggravated robbery in the High Court last Friday.

“Had there been a facility to enable you to avoid long term imprisonment, we would have probably resorted to that facility, but that has not seemed satisfactorily in place. I see no good reason to differentiate the terms or length of imprisonment,” chided Justice Odel Adams before handing down sentences last Friday on two young men who both pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and keeping an unlicensed firearm.

The duo, 20-year-old Devon Beckford and Shaunlee Fahie, 22, was sentenced to three years imprisonment, with sentence to run concurrent on each charge. Casually dressed in denim and both donning similar braided hairstyles, they listened attentively to the charges and the facts that were read by the Crown.

“I am going to impose a term on you, taking into account the one year you have served,” Justice Adams cautioned upon hearing the facts.

After spending over an hour asking for the Court’s leniency, Attorney-at-Law, Margaret Price-Findlay, told the Court that her clients rendered assistance to the police at an early stage of the investigation and they had no previous records.

“It is not easy for us as defense lawyers, to defend such act, there is no good. The outcome of what they did could be a lot worse, this is a foolish act and they have to take responsibilities for their actions,” she said in a stern voice.

Findlay informed the Court that Beckford, a former assistant driver employed at Riteway Supermarket, had represented the Virgin Island in several softball tournaments in Mexico , Aruba and was eyeing a baseball scholarship in the United States . In her arguments she mentioned that Fahie who was employed at the Fisheries department, is the holder of a High School certificate in North Carolina .

“They will still have an opportunity at the prison to make good of their lives, with the skills offered at the institution. I would be considerably mad or lost my sense of reasoning, to stand up and ask the Court for a lesser sentence. We cannot tolerate this in our society,” Findlay added.

The Prosecution contended that on Tuesday October 1, of last year about 2:30 am, two masked men armed with firearms held up and robbed employees of the Trade Wind Club, at Harbour View Marina, in East End at gunpoint. The four employees resided on two nearby yachts.

The gunmen went on the dock and demanded that one of the employees handed over the keys to the office. The men then escorted the employee to the office where they questioned, gagged and place the worker on the floor before ransacking the office. They then went to one of the yachts, where they met with  resistance from another employee, whom they hit several times causing injuries to the head. Another employee was taken to the office at gunpoint where she was forced to open the safe which contained cash and other items.

The men stole cash amounting to US$ 350 from the safe and a Toshiba laptop valued at $2,000 from the office. They later took the employee back to the yacht and tied her up. They then went to the second yacht where they tied up another employee and stole a Compaq Presario laptop valued at US $ 1,500, one Gateway laptop valued at US $ 1,400, accessories, personal documents and cash amounting to US $ 1,800 before making their escape.

The police were contacted and the complainants were sent to the Peebles Hospital for treatment.

The police acting on suspicion, conducted a search the following day, at the residents of both men at Brandywine Bay , where a number of items belonging to the complainants were found both inside and outside the premises.

Further search of an open lot adjacent the premises revealed other items including a purse which contained one 9mm Ruger handgun, with magazine containing 13 rounds of 9mm cartridges, one intra tech 9mm firearm containing a magazine with 21 rounds of 9mm cartridges and one round in the breech, hidden under an old abandoned car.

 Both men were later arrested and Bedford confessed to committing the robbery, during a separate interview. Fahie denied the allegations, but his finger print impression was found on the abandoned car. A DNA profile was also found on the Ruger pistol which an analyst found matched Fahie’s.

The duo before receiving their sentences, were both granted permission from the court to apologise to their complainants, families and friends. “I acknowledge what I did was terribly wrong, I am sorry for whatever problems I was going through, I was wrong to let it get to this point,” Fahie added in a pitiful voice.

Bedford told the Court he was sorry for his actions and everyone he had hurt in the process.

“While I was remanded, I understood that there is a price I have to pay and I learned from my mistakes. I don’t have a choice, so I have to pay a price and make the best out of a bad situation,” Bedford added.

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