Tears could not save two Port-of-Spain men from being jailed for robbing a woman and being found with a loaded gun in a car in south Trinidad.Amin Keller, 31, and Collin Hannaway, 32, of East Dry River will serve five years in prison for robbery with violence and possession of a Smith and Wesson revolver and 11 rounds of ammunition.Imposing the sentences in the San Fernando First Court on Monday, Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington said robbery had almost become a way of life.
"Robbery carries with it a threat or use of violence," he said. "It is not larceny. In some jurisdictions robbery is strictly indictable."Keller and Hannaway were arrested and charged by PC Donald Snaggs of the Ste Madeleine Police Station on February 23. They pleaded guilty.Hannaway cried through most of the proceedings. At one point his attorney Ainsley Lucky asked the magistrate if he could give Hannaway a rag to "mop himself up." But the magistrate said no.
Police prosecutor Cleyon Seedan said around 9.35 am Joscel Cummings was standing on the pavement in front of her home at Pointe-a-Pierre Road, Vistabella when a gold-coloured Nissan Almera car stopped a short distance away.Hannaway got out of the front seat and ordered Cummings to hand over her gold chain.She struggled with him and he hit her. He then placed his hand under her jersey and told her, "Doh beat up. I will shoot you."
He ripped off her chain and got back into the car which sped off.Snaggs and other officers who were on patrol responded to the robbery report and stopped the car at Byron Boulevard, Gopaul Lands, Marabella. Snaggs found the loaded gun under the driver's seat and also found the chain in the car.Asking for a non-custodial sentence, Lucky said the men were going through financial stress.
However, the magistrate said: "If I impose a fine it might give incentive to go out and rob again."Asking for lenience, Lucky said the men pleaded guilty and were contrite.The magistrate sentenced them both to five years each on the robbery charge and two-and-half years on the other charge. However, the sentences are to run concurrently.