Five years for bank robbery
PHILIPSBURG – The Court in First Instance sentenced two men who robbed the Scotiabank in Simpson Bay on June 9 of last year to five years of imprisonment on Wednesday. A third man received a 4-year sentence. The court pronounces its verdict against the remaining suspects three weeks from now, om February 7.
Shaquille Akim Every, 24, and Dillon Jones, 23, were on the receiving end of the 5-year sentence. Nikhal Xavier Otto, 25, was sentenced to 4 years. The public prosecutor had demanded 8 years against Every and 6 years against Otto and Jones. The fourth defendant, Sheldon Elroy Ludovico W., 23, is facing a 6-year sentence.
The four defendants traveled to the Scotia Bank in Simpson Bay on June 9 of last year around 8.45 a.m. Three of them got out of their car and threatened a security guard with their firearms. When the man refused to open the door, they broke it down and when it became clear that they could not get near the money of the bank, they turned on early customers and robbed them of their possessions – cash and mobile phones.
Police arrested the robbers within half an hour. According to court documents, Sheldon W. is seen on video footage of the robbery holding a weapon that looks like an AK-47. After his arrest, W. had a phone in his possession that was stolen during the robbery.
Every was arrested at Kim Sha Beach, where he claimed to police that he had been there for a swim. Officers put him in a police car where they later found $1,690 in cash under his seat.
During the hunt for the robbers, a police officer fired shots at Mikhal Otto and hit him in one of his arms. In hospital, Otto told officers: “I did something very stupid today.” He had the security guard’s phone in his possession.
The public prosecutor said that Sheldon W. had driven the car that took the robbers to the bank and that Otto was the one who had pointed a gun at a police officer who was chasing him.
“All this happened in broad daylight and the defendants used a lot of violence,’ the prosecutor said.
Initially, Otto had called at a house where a woman lived with her baby and asked her if he could stay with her. When the woman refused, he ran away, only to be arrested shortly afterwards.
“Statements from bystanders about the whereabouts of the men helped the police a great deal,” the prosecutor said. “The officers who chased the robbers put their life at risk. They are the real heroes of this story together with the security guard who refused to open the door of the bank and the woman who refused to harbor Otto.”
The prosecutor demanded prison sentences of 6 years against Otto, Jones and Sheldon W. and 8 years against Shaquille Every.
Attorney Sjamira Roseburg said that she does not understand the 8-years demand against her client Shaquille Every. “He has confessed and indicated what his role was. He spent already 7 months in pretrial detention. After the hurricane he has repented.” Roseburg asked the court for a largely conditional prison sentence.
Attorney Shaira Bommel questioned the prosecutor’s statement that her client Otto had used a lot of violence and that he had pointed a gun at a police officer. “That seems unlikely for someone who is on the run,” she said.
Bommel highlighted the sorry state of the Pointe Blanche prison, more than four months after the passing of Hurricane Irma. “It wasn’t good to begin with and things have only gotten worse,’ she said. “The water pours into the cells when it rains, the roof has not been repaired and walls threaten to collapse. There is also a shortage of cells, so suspects are locked up at the police station again.”
Attorney Safira Ibrahim also did not understand the prosecutor’s demand against Sheldon W. “I do not understand why he is an accomplice and not an accessory. During his arrest violence was used against him by a police dog and his handler did not interfere.”
