PHILIPSBURG–In accordance with the Prosecutor’s demand, the Court of First Instance on Thursday sentenced suspect Collins Anthony James (30) to ten years in prison for three armed robberies committed in Philipsburg in July 2017.
The Court found James guilty of robbing Oops clothing store on July 12, 2017, Alberto’s Fashion on July 15, 2017 and Divinitii Jewellers on July 17, 2017.
During the robbery at Oops the defendant had held a knife to the cashier’s throat, forcing the handover of money and clothing. During the robberies of Alberto’s Fashion and Divinitii Jewellers personnel were forced to hand over money and jewellery while being threatened with a firearm.
James was arrested by members of the St. Maarten Police Force KPSM while fleeing from the Divinitii robbery. Surveillance-camera images and his distinctive tattoos easily linked him to the previous two robberies.
The Judge also ruled that Collins had committed the act of unlawful restraint in the Alberto’s Fashion and Divinitii robberies.
James had just been released from prison on June 5, 2017, after serving a prison sentence of 14 years and eight months for similar offences, when he committed a new series of robberies. In issuing Thursday’s sentence, the Court said it agreed with the Prosecutor that Collins apparently had not learn from his previous conviction.
The defendant has been detained in the Netherlands since November 2017. The suspect, who started his criminal “career” at the tender age of 13, informed the Court during the February 22 hearing that he wanted to better his life. He said he is working and studying within the prison confines.
The Prosecution said the loot of the July 2017 robberies had been only partially retrieved. Therefore, the convict may be facing a dispossession claim later, as well as a request to execute a previously-imposed conditional sentence.
According to the defence, there was insufficient evidence to link the defendant to two of the three robberies, as well as to the deprivation of liberty in the Divinitii case.
“My mother was a drug dealer when I was born, and my father was a robber,” the suspect told the Court in his final word. “I did not learn about what was right and what was wrong … but it is better to have an honest life,” he stated in pleading for clemency, a chance and assistance. To no avail, however, as it emerged Thursday.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/74699-man-gets-10-years-for-three-armed-robberies
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