Thirty-three-year-old Asher Ferrol will spend the next three years behind bars after pleading guilty to taking conveyance, robbery, and the kidnapping of a man and woman at Donkey Beach in September 2008.
Ferrol was sentenced at the High Court of Justice today. Through his lawyer, he told the court that he regretted his actions.
“I would like to sincerely apologize for any and all pain or discomfort that I have put them through…” Ferrol said in a letter addressed to the judge and read by lawyer Dawn Yearwood-Stewart.
According to the facts of the case, presented by Director of Public Prosecutions Gene Pestaina, on September 13, 2008 Ferrol, Kurt Registe (deceased) and two other accomplices, approached Ronald Jno Finn and his girlfriend at Donkey Beach, stole their money, and placed them in the boot of the couple’s own car. They then drove the couple to Check Hall and abandoned them there.
“The accused and another pounced on the complainants and robbed Jno Finn of $75 and a Nokia Cell phone valued at $50 (from his girlfriend). ..The accomplices then got rid of the contents of the boot of the vehicle and forced Jno Finn and his girlfriend into the said boot. The accused drove his captives away from the beach on the said car… The said car was required for conveyance for other purposes,” Pestaina informed the court.
The defendants drove to the car wash in Check Hall where they ran away and left the victims in the boot of the car. Upon hearing footsteps moving away from the vehicle, Jno Finn’s girlfriend managed to activate the boot lock, opened it and escaped from the vehicle. They were taken to the Princess Margaret Hospital where they were treated with intravenous fluids for dehydration.
The prosecutor added that during the rough trip Jno Finn managed to use his cellular phone to contact Inspector Davidson Valerie. This sparked an island wide police search for the complainants.
The experience was traumatic for both victims who had sweated for seven-eight hours after they had been placed in the boot of the car.
According to the prosecutor, Jno Finn had become anoxic where he had difficulty breathing but was kept conscious because of his girlfriend’s experience as a nurse, according to the prosecutor.
The defendant was subsequently arrested along with the other accused men. He provided the police with the stolen cell phone.
On September 25, 2008 Ferrol was remanded and had been on remand ever since.
During a mitigating plea, Ferrol’s lawyer said that at the time of the incident, her client was financially distraught and was unable to generate income to sustain his new born baby, girlfriend and himself. Ferrol is a father of six.
Yearwood-Stewart added that Ferrol was not known to the police and had shown a high level of cooperation once he had been caught.
She mitigated that the entire situation began when Ferrol was approached by the other accomplices who promised financial gain if he did “certain things.” He agreed.
Yearwood-Stewart asked the judge to temper justice with mercy since her client was clearly remorseful; and had apologized to both complainants about his actions.
In response to the mitigation plea, Justice Cottle told Ferrol, “…You have not given the court any trouble. You have pleaded guilty, but these are serious offenses. A type of offense which one does not usually associate with the Commonwealth of Dominica…The most serious offense which is robbery, the law says you can be sent to prison for the next 14 years…”
Justice Cottle said that he also took into consideration that the convicted man had not had any previous convictions and had already spent 18 months on remand.
On the first count of taking conveyance Ferrol was sentenced to serve 18 months imprisonment. This sentence cancelled out since it is to be effective from the day that he was out on remand 18 months ago.
On the second count of kidnapping the convicted man was sentenced to one year imprisonment. He was also sentenced to three years to run concurrently with the previous sentence on the count of robbery.
The crime was very serious and could have killed the vicitms. It was not the poverty of the offender that caused the crime and poverty should not be accepted as an excuse for a violent crime. There are lots of bananas, dasheen, chicken and coconuts to steal quietly in the night. The justice system in Dominica is worse than any country I have ever lived in. Atleast one magistrate has an IQ of about 70, I would estimate. I wonder if she was involved in this sentencing.
The system in Dominica is a Joke let’s all go backwards.
Talk about a third world country.
Again shame on you Dominica
This is just crazy. Can you imagine the trauma that these people may have suffered in the boot of that car?
this man should never see the light of day ever again for what he did to people minding their own business. this is gonna cause alot of people to take the law into their own hands cause there is no justice to be gained from our courts. magway sa!
I hope the others get the full 14 years. Please clean dominica up.
Are you serious? Three years for crimes of such gravity?
It appears that Dominica is no longer nature’s paradise but a criminal’s paradise.
If we need to combat the rising cases of criminal activities on the island the authorities must show that they are tough on crime. Criminals should get the message that if they “do the crime, then they must do the time.”
This is really a joke.
Mr. Judge i think you need to get your act straight. I believe that you judges/magistrates will only understand what crime really is when it hits you in the face. What will the criminals think when you are being soo linient? They will not realise the gravity of their crimes. You can do better than that sir.
THOSE JUDGES DOING THAT ON PURPOSE TO MAKE DEHANSIN LOOK BAD FOR HEAVY PENALTIES BUT IS DA THEY KILLING. 3 PEOPLE GO FREE FOR SERIOUS PREMEDITATED BURGLARY . THOSE JUDGES HAVE THEIR BENIFIT
THREE YEARS IS NOT ENOUGH FOR THAT CRIME THOSE TWO PEOPLE
COULD HAVE DIED IN THE TRUNK OF THEIR CAR . TIMES ARE ROUGH BUT
THESE YOUNG PEOPLE NEED TO FIND WORK TO DO
SHAME ON THEM AND SHAME ON THE JUDGE FOR GIVING THEM
THREE YEARS
judges too slack man
dat alone, i wonder if it was the judge’s kids involved if he would be happy with such a sentence…..
This is the worse load of crap that I have heard of in a very long time. These magistrates/judges apparently, need to be the victims of some these attacks to experience first hand how frightening, traumatic, demoralizing and painful such an experience can be. I consider this a disgrace to the criminal justice system of Dominica. These people must be having a laugh. To think that our tourism industry which at best is shaky, could be dealt such a blow by a bunch of delinquent bastards and then to add insult to injury a high court judge would let off this joker with the lightest of slaps on his wrist must be considered as the laugh of the year. In the first place, one of the charges really should have been attempted murder since in my opinion, locking up people in the boot of a car, then abandoning them in a deserted area with no visible help is equal to trying to kill them. This sort of sentencing certainly does not act as a deterrent to others and in fact encourages others to try stuff like that since there is always the possibility of escaping scot free.
Whew!! What a joke.
WHAT A JOKE;
These lawyers making a mockery of the law.These judges and lawyers are a bunch of 4k%$$ insensitive money jordan. do your crime; pay a lawer;you get small time;
TOO MANY LAWYERS NOT ENOUGH CRIME;ONE CAN GET OFF ON A DIME ;
them judge not serious 3yrs for kidnapping and robbery thats a joke thats why people have to take the law in their own hands to seek true justice. im sure i would lay that moth** F***8 DOWN IF IT was me
Why should we feel sorry for this guy? Was he feeling sorry for them when he left them in the boot of the car for over 7 hours? Think he should have gotten the maximum sentence even if he is a first time offender. He should look for hard work instead of quick money.
three years for KIDNAPPING e on that judge needs three years come no wonder Dominica heading down the drain 3 years
Well, well, well, Mr. going to serve de same time as a man arrested for smoking a joint. Yes Sar!
Is this a joke??? Wow so lets just feel sorry for everyone who commits a crime, give them a slap on the wrist and carry on??? so why no one felt sorry for the guy who got 26 or how many years for killing the man that had been threatening to kill him, who he warned police about, who had a weapon in his hand the day of the incident …who feeling sorry for mister…cause I was sorry for him eh…defending himself and doubly and harsly penalized for it…these judges make no sense
sweet dominica.i am surprised he didnt go free
These people could have soffocated in the boot of the car. The law needs to give more consideration to the real victims and not the offenders.
Why Mr them couldn’t come and try that sh*t on me? I know there would be at least 2 of them deceased right now in an act of self defense. Thats why people you should always carry your licensed Handgun when going out with your lover at night.
That judge not serious. It just boils my blood when i hear them lawyers talking about tempering justice with mercy. This couple will never be the same again. What a shame
only one year for kidnapping?