A father from St Joseph, who served as a getaway driver in an armed robbery committed by his two sons, has lost his appeal against his sentence. Delivering a written judgment on Tuesday, Appeal Court Judges Alice Yorke-Soo Hon and Mark Mohammed dismissed all five grounds raised by Curtis Joseph and his sons, Joshua Etienne and Trevon Joseph, in their appeal against the eight-year sentences they received.
The judges ruled that the father’s sentence was correctly calculated by Magistrate Cherril-Ann Blake due to the unique circumstances of the case. The judges said: “The magistrate considered the case to be a peculiar one involving a father and two sons carrying out a robbery. She correctly identified, as a unique and very serious aggravating factor, the fact that the assailants were a father and two sons.”
“We are of the opinion Curtis’ role as a father demands in principle a higher sentence than his two sons to reflect the gravity of actions, the denunciatory objective of the sentence and the deterrent objective,” they added.
While the court affirmed Curtis’ sentence, they felt that his sons’ were entitled to discounts on theirs as they co-operated with police after they were arrested for the crime. Trevon’s sentence was reduced by a year, while Etienne’s sentence was reduced by two years as he was the one who handed over the stolen items to police. The robbery took place on March 16, 2012, while the victims—Avillon Murray and her sister-in-law Annmarie Ali-Williams were walking along the Eastern Main Road, St Augustine, near to the tunnel by the University of the West Indies.
The women were approached by two men, armed with knives, who robbed Murray of her handbag containing two cell phones and $1,134 in cash. The women said the robbers escaped in a silver Nissan Primera which was parked nearby. The brothers and their father were arrested later that evening while driving near their home. They confessed to the crime, with Etienne admitting that the handbag was stashed at Curtis’ house.
None of the defendants testified at trial but Curtis’ attorney contended that on the night of the robbery he and his sons went to a gas station in St Augustine and KFC in Curepe Junction, before they were arrested on their way home. He denied any wrongdoing. The State’s case against Curtis, who was labelled the getaway driver, was circumstantial as the victims were only able to identify the brothers.
The family were represented by Keith Scotland and Raphael Morgan, while Angelica Teelucksingh and Mauriecia Joseph represented the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).