A SUBMISSION by defence counsel Steve Gollop that convicted thief Anderson Ryan Ince be given a two-year prison sentence for stealing over $1 million from Government’s coffers was shot down yesterday.
In fact, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Donna Babb-Agard, QC, has proposed that a starting point should be no fewer than ten years.
Ince was found guilty last October of stealing $1 118 500, belonging to the Psychiatric Hospital, between August 1, 2003 and August 1, 2005.
He was also convicted of money laundering, having engaged in transactions totalling $1 118 500, which were the proceeds of crime during the same period.
In mitigating in the Supreme Court before Justice Michelle Weekes yesterday, Gollop referred to a 1998 case, the Queen vs Trevor Clarke, in which Clarke was sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of stealing over £400 000.
The attorney said that when inflation and other factors were taken into consideration, that money translated to $2.3 million in Barbados dollars in 2018. That figure, he added, was more than double the amount of money Ince had been found guilty of stealing.
Gollop contended that the sum of money involved should not be the only determining factor. He said his client had possessed a clean record prior to being convicted and also had a favourable pre-sentencing report.
“In the circumstances, if the court is mindful of imposing a period of imprisonment, a period of two years is suitable,” he told Justice Weekes.
However, Babb-Agard said that such a sentence would not be in line with the seriousness of the offences committed. She said the aggravating factors far outweighed the mitigating ones.
The newly appointed DPP said Ince had not entered a guilty plea, had shown no remorse for his actions, had breached the trust of his superiors and co-workers, and had lived a lavish lifestyle and showered his girlfriend and two outside women with cars and expensive jewellery.
Furthermore, Babb-Agard said there was no evidence any of the money had been paid back.
She said police had only been able to recover some of the expensive jewellery and two vehicles, which Ince would not otherwise have been able to afford.
“He used Government’s coffers as his own piggy bank. His actions were intentional, planned and strategic. There was nothing simple-minded about it,” she pointed out.
Babb-Agard said the only two mitigating factors were that Ince had a clean record and a positive pre-sentencing report.
“Both charges merit lengthy custodial sentences. I do not suggest a starting point should be anything less than ten years.”
After listening to both sides, Justice Weekes reserved sentencing until a later date, which she said she would try for as soon as possible. (RB)