A Grand Court judge sentenced Rolan Welcome to 10 years in prison this week for breaking into a woman’s home in East End while she slept and threatening her with a machete.
Justice Marlene Carter had found Welcome, 34, guilty of aggravated burglary in September last year, following a judge-alone trial.
The delivery of his sentence was delayed as, at the time, he was awaiting trial for conspiracy to murder Sven Connor. In January, a jury found Welcome, and another man — Antascio Rankine — guilty of that offence. Their sentences are expected to be passed at a later date.
Carter, delivering the sentence judgment on the aggravated burglary charge on Tuesday, outlined details of the crime.
She noted that the court had heard that the victim, a bartender at Eastern Star Bar in East End, had returned to her home and gone to bed after finishing her shift in the early hours of 9 Nov. 2023. She was awakened by a voice and footsteps outside her bedroom. She heard the doorknob shaking just before the door was kicked in.
The woman said she recognised the intruder, as he had been at the bar earlier, and she later identified Welcome to police.
The judge noted that Welcome was armed with what the victim described as a “large, rusty machete, about 3 feet in length”. He demanded that she hand over money from the bar, but when she told him she did not have any money, he put the machete to her neck and said, “That’s a lie. I know you have the money. Give me all that you have.”
The victim handed over US$300 to the armed man, who warned her if she contacted police, he would come back, telling her, “I’m going to find you. I know who you are and I know where you live,” the judge said.
Carter pointed out a number of aggravating factors in the case, including that it had been an offence committed at night against a lone female in her bedroom; that there had been a threat of serious violence and the victim had been warned not to report the crime to police. She also took into account that Welcome had clearly planned the robbery, as he knew the woman had takings from the bar at her home.
The judge added that there were no mitigating circumstances for the court to consider.
The bartender declined to participate in a victim impact report, the judge stated. When approached to take part, she had told the Crown prosecutor, “I don’t feel comfortable replaying all that. The trial was hard enough for me, and I’d prefer to move on.”
With a starting point of eight years, the judge added two additional years for the aggravating factors, for a total of 10 years. She ordered that the time Welcome had spent in custody since his arrest should be deducted from his sentence.
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