THREE MEN from Olympic Gardens, Kingston 11, who raped a woman when they, along with other men, staged a robbery at her home in Plantation Heights, St. Andrew, in 2001, have been sentenced to prison sentences ranging from 25 years to 30 years for rape.
Justice Patrick Brooks on Friday sentenced each man - Bernard Samuels and Damion Bailey to a total of 30 years' imprisonment at hard labour while Oneil Ricketts was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
The three men were also found guilty of illegal possession of firearm and each was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, while for charges of robbery with aggravation they were each sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment. The sentences are to run concurrently with the sentences for rape.
33-YEAR SENTENCE
Bailey and Samuels were also found guilty of assaulting the complainant and were each sentenced to three years' imprisonment. The two men will serve a total of 33 years, as the judge ordered that the three-year-prison sentence should run consecutive to the 30-year prison sentence.
A fourth man, Fearon Donaldson, who was charged jointly with the three men, was found guilty of robbery with aggravation and illegal possession of firearm. He was sentenced to a total of 12 years' imprisonment.
The Crown, represented by Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions David Fraser, led evidence in the Gun Court that the men went to the complainant's home, robbed her of household items and her motor car.
Three of the men raped the complainant. The matter was reported to the police shortly after the men left. Three soldiers and a policeman who were patrolling in the Olympic Gardens area heard the police radio transmission and spotted the car in the area. They signalled the men to stop, but they fired shots in their attempt to escape. The men were held and some of the items which were stolen from the house were found in the car.
