A PH taxi driver who preyed on pensioners, robbing them of groceries, jewelry and cash, was sentenced to 13 months in jail yesterday.
Eric Caton who admitted to the crime and was not represented apologised for his actions.
He told Deputy Chief Magistrate Nanette Forde-John in the San Fernando Magistrates Court that robbing people was not a “customary thing.”
“I lost my work and I have a six-month-old baby and I am the only breadwinner. I humbly apologise. I just wanted to buy goods in my house.”
The court heard Caton picked up two elderly women and robbed them.
One of the his victims, great-grandmother, Joycelyn Garraway, 62, told reporters she felt she was in a “life and death” as she recalled her frightening experience, after the court hearing.
Garraway who had boarded Caton’s car after purchasing groceries, which he also stole, is still traumatised by her ordeal.
She said if Caton had asked her for help she would have given him money.
“I feel very traumatised. Good thing I know how to pray,” she added.
Asked how she felt about the crime situation, she said: “(Insp Roger) Alexander need to put all of them in the prisoner Amalgamated van and take them to Carenage and bathe them with blue soap and beat them with cocoyea. They giving too much trouble.”
She said she sells souse and was going home after buying her ingredients, including pig foot and chicken foot, in the grocery.
Caton, who was arrested shortly after he robbed Garraway on Republic Day, was charged by PC Markus Lange of the San Fernando CID for robbing Garraway and 74-year-old Sybil Ramsubir.
He pleaded guilty to the two charges of robbery with violence when he appeared in the San Fernando Magistrates\ Court.
Caton first picked up 74-year-old Sybil Ramsubir on August 23, around 1.55 pm at Mucurapo Street,
The pensioner boarded his car, a silver Nissan B-15 and asked to be taken to Esperance/Diamond Village.
However, prosecutor Sgt Dianath Harricharan said Caton stopped his car near Baptiste Street, SS Erin Road, Duncan Village, and announced a robbery.
Caton placed his hand over Ramsubir’s mouth and robbed of her $2,000 gold chain, two gold rings, valued $2,500, a $200 bracelet and $3,500 cash. He then put her out his car and sped off. She made a report to the San Fernando Police Station.
Garraway boarded Caton’s car around 9.20 am on Saturday at Cross Crossing to be taken to High Street but Caton stopped his car near Rushworth Street and grabbed the woman’s hand.
He robbed her of a $100 travelling bag, a $50 purse, $4,000 spectacles, a $175 PriceSmart card, her grocery items, worth $316, and $135 cash. When she got out of his car she made her way to the police station where she made a report.
The police were able to intercept his car along South Trunk Road, La Romaine, where they found Garraway’s belongings in his car. Upon arrest he admitted robbing Garraway and Ramsubir and was wearing Ramsubir’s bracelet on his hand.