The Jamaican national who admitted 20 burglaries last week was sentenced on Monday to seven years imprisonment.
Hasani Lindsay, 25, received a term of seven years for an aggravated burglary in July 2005. The offence was aggravated because he carried a knife with him.
Mrs. Justice Zaila McCalla imposed a term of five years for 11 other burglaries and made the sentences concurrent.
It was the aggravated burglary that led to Lindsay’s arrest. The home owner had returned to the premises while Lindsay was inside. When the two men faced each other, Lindsay swiped at the home owner with the knife and then ran. The victim followed him and called police.
After Lindsay was found hiding in the bush, he was arrested and fingerprinted. His prints matched those recovered from the scenes of 11 previous burglaries dating as far back as December 2003.
Last week he entered guilty pleas to those 11 offences plus the aggravated burglary, and accepted responsibility for eight others. Three further charges were withdrawn (Caymanian Compass, 27 September).
Mrs. Justice McCalla agreed with Defence Attorney Keith Collins that Lindsay’s guilty pleas were a redeeming feature. She said there were many persons who knew they were guilty but chose to waste the court’s time with a trial; by doing so they also interfered with the lives of witnesses.
Because Lindsay had accepted his responsibility, people of Grand Cayman now had the assurance that, instead of 23 criminals being at large during that relevant time, there was in fact only one visiting burglar who had been very active.
But the defendant had abused the opportunity of entering Cayman as a bona fide visitor, the judge said. Tracing the chronology of events she pointed out that he had entered Cayman five times between 2003 and 2005 and committed the offences.
She said she had a duty to Cayman society to impose a sentence that would deter others from entering as visitors to commit crimes. But she also took into account the mitigation urged by Mr. Collins.
The attorney had offered a public apology on behalf of Lindsay and emphasised his guilty pleas and cooperation with police.
His mother gave evidence to the effect that Lindsay was a loving child. She had been working in Cayman 12 years. She did not know about the offences committed during the times he was here visiting her.
Since she had been visiting him at Northward prison he had admitted his wrong and had given his life to the Lord. Lindsay is the father of three children, she reported.
Mr. Collins provided reports from the prison, a teacher there and a member of the Prison Ministry. Lindsay was described as someone who could be a positive influence on his peers in the future.
Mrs. Justice McCalla urged the defendant to use his time in custody to learn a skill so that he will be able to contribute to society once he is released.
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