EVANGELICAL?PASTOR?Jippy Doyle, who was convicted of raping a 13-year-old parishioner of his church will spend one more Christmas in prison, but he will be out by January next year.
Yesterday, the Court of Appeal replaced the ten-year sentence imposed on Doyle on July 31, 2008 for rape with a three-year sentence for indecent assault.
The court stated that the sentence would commence from October 31, 2008.
That means that Doyle who has already spent more than two years behind bars will be out in January next year.
The decision was handed down by Acting Chief Justice Sherman Moore and Justices of Appeal Peter Williams and Sandra Mason.
They found that the trial judge had erred in law by advising the jury that consent was not an issue.
But as Doyle’s attorney Sir Richard “Johnny” Cheltenham and prison officers were busy calculating the dates to determine when he would be released from jail, Doyle, dressed in his trademark pinned-striped suit, sat in the court with a puzzled look on his face.
Sir Richard informed him that from his calculations he should be out by January 30 and this was confirmed by prison officers who hurriedly left the court after the decision to check prison records.
But when Sir Richard asked him if he understood what had transpired Doyle shook his head put his hand to his face and said, “No”.
He then told his counsel that the judge who had originally sentenced him had ordered that his sentence would take place from the date of his conviction – July 31, 2008 – and not from the October 31, 2008 date when the sentence was actually imposed.
“That means that I?should be out today”, Doyle said as Sir Richard reviewed the judge’s transcript.
The Queen’s Counsel then sent a message to the appeal judges asking them for clarification based on what was noted in the transcript.
However, after a tense 15 minutes, during which time a small group of church members from Doyle’s Dominion Life Church waited anxiously to hear the judges conclusion, the clerk court emerged from the judges’ chambers and announced that their decision would remain.
Doyle was led away to serve an additional six weeks.
Sir Richard told the DAILY?NATION that he would have to study the decision since it was over 100 pages long. But he stated that the appeal judges had shown “compassion” and were “most reasonable” with their decision.
A female member of Doyle’s church group shouted: “Hallelujah” as the group exited the court while another stated: “Our prayers have been answered.”
The 13-year-old victim had complained that Doyle, now 41, had raped her on May 12, 2001, at his home, after inviting her there.
In arriving at its decision, the Court of Appeal noted: “The court has the statutory power to replace the verdict of guilty of rape with a verdict of guilty of indecent assault and to pass such sentence in substitution for the sentence passed at the trial as is authorised for indecent assault”.
