R v Ramoon and Douglas

• Jurisdiction: Cayman Islands
• Judge: (Quin, J.)
• Judgment Date: 19 December 2016
• Court: Grand Court (Cayman Islands)
• Date: 19 December 2016

Grand Court, Criminal Division

(Quin, J.)

R.

and

RAMOON and DOUGLAS

C. Richards, Q.C. and C. James for the Crown;

S. Larkin, Q.C. and P. Bodden for Ramoon;

L. Aiolfi for Douglas.

Attorneys: Govt. Legal Dept. for the Crown; Samson & McGrath for the defendants.

Cases cited:

(1)R. v. Butler, 2016 (1) CILR N [15], referred to.referred to.

(2) R. v. Davies, [2008] EWCA Crim 1055; [2009] 1 Cr. App. R. (S.) 15; [2008] Crim. L.R. 733, referred to.

(3) R. v. Kelly, [2000] Q.B. 198; [1999] 2 W.L.R. 1100; [1999] 2 All E.R. 13; [1999] 2 Cr. App. R. 36; [1999] 2 Cr. App. R. (S.) 176, applied.

Legislation construed:

Conditional Release Law 2014, s.14(1): The relevant terms of this sub-section are set out at para. 5.

s.21: The relevant terms of this section are set out at para. 6.

Conditional Release of Prisoners Regulations 2016, reg. 14: The relevant terms of this regulation are set out at para. 8.

Schedule 12: The relevant terms of this schedule are set out at para. 9.

Penal Code (2013 Revision), s.182: The relevant terms of this section are set out at para. 2.

Criminal Law — murder — sentence — indeterminate sentence — 30-year minimum term before defendant eligible for release on licence increased to 34 years (35 for defendant with previous conviction for possession of imitation firearm) for aggravating factors: possession of illegal firearm; very significant degree of planning and premeditation; public execution; and attempt also to shoot witness

The defendants were charged with murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm.

The defendants had driven to a local bar where the second defendant moved young people away from the area before the first defendant shot the victim in the back of the head with an unlicensed firearm. The victim had died instantly. The first defendant had attempted to shoot a friend of the victim, who had witnessed the offence, but the firearm failed to discharge. The defendants had been convicted of murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm.

Section 182 of the Penal Code (2013 Revision) provided that any person convicted of murder should be sentenced to imprisonment for life. Under the Conditional Release Law 2014, when imposing a sentence of life imprisonment, the court must specify the period to be served before the prisoner would be eligible for consideration for conditional release. In a case of murder, s.14(1) provided for a period of 30 years, unless there were extenuating or aggravating circumstances, exceptional in nature, which caused the court to impose a shorter or longer period of imprisonment. Aggravating and extenuating circumstances were listed in Schedule 12 to the Conditional Release of Prisoners Regulations 2016. The aggravating factors included a significant degree of planning or premeditation (para. 2(2)(a)), previous convictions (para. 2(2)(h)), and any other circumstances which might be considered relevant (para. 2(2)(j)).

The Crown submitted that there were the following aggravating circumstances: (a) the offence took place in a crowded public place and was essentially a public execution; (b) there had been a degree of planning and premeditation; (c) the first defendant had previous convictions which included possession of an imitation firearm and possession of ganja with intent to supply; and (d) the second defendant had previous convictionswhich included burglary and handling stolen goods. There appeared to be no extenuating circumstances.

The defendants submitted that there were no exceptional extenuating or aggravating circumstances, in particular that there was no evidence of premeditation, and that their previous convictions and the fact the offence occurred in a crowded place were not aggravating features.

Held, sentencing as follows:

It was common ground that there were no extenuating circumstances, exceptional in nature, which would have justified the imposition of a period of imprisonment for the offence of murder below the statutory minimum of 30 years provided in s.14(1) of the Conditional Release Law 2014. The following aggravating circumstances, which were exceptional in nature, justified a longer period of imprisonment: (i) the pre-possession of the illegal firearm; (ii) the distinct role of each defendant in the commission of the offence; (iii) the very significant degree of planning and premeditation- the murder had been carried out in less than 10 minutes with clinical precision and there was no evidence of any provocation by the victim; and (iv) the intention also to shoot the victim's friend, a witness to the murder. This had been a very public execution of the most evil nature which was far from regular, routine or normal. It had been chillingly clinical in its planning and execution. There had been a very serious escalation of gun crime in recent years. Pursuant to the Conditional Release Law, the court must consider the appropriate period of imprisonment to satisfy the requirements of retribution, deterrence and rehabilitation. The exceptional aggravating circumstances and the urgent need for meaningful deterrence justified a sentence of 34 years' imprisonment for the second defendant before he would be eligible for consideration for release on conditional licence and 35 years for the first defendant, the further increase justified by his previous conviction for possession of an imitation firearm. For the charge of possession of an unlicensed firearm, both defendants would be sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, which was to run concurrently with their sentences for murder (paras. 40-52).

1. QUIN, J.: Following a trial by judge alone, the defendants were found guilty of murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm on May 26th, 2016.

2. Section 182 of the Penal Code provides that “any person convicted of murder shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life.”

3. However, with the introduction of the Conditional Release Law 2014 (“the Law”) which came into effect on February 15th, 2016, it is now the law that when sentencing to a term of imprisonment for life the court shall specify the period of incarceration the prisoner shall serve before the prisoner becomes eligible to be considered for conditional release on licence. Section 14(1) further provides that for murder the period of incarceration shall be 30 years before the prisoner is eligible for conditional release, unless there are extenuating or aggravating circumstances, exceptional in nature, which may cause the court to impose a shorter or a longer period of imprisonment.

4. I am grateful to Malcolm, Ag. J., for the helpful way in which he has set out, in his sentence judgment dated May 6th, 2016 in R. v. Butler (1), the law which deals with the conditional release of all prisoners and the provisions relating to life imprisonment...