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A man who admitted to a string of burglaries earlier this month told the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court that his actions were fuelled by drug cravings.

“When I have my cravings, I does need cash,” said 35-year-old Jermain Hartley Cox, who is recorded as having no fixed place of abode.

He pleaded guilty to entering the Sea Food Shack restaurant on July 11 as a trespasser and stealing a $300 tablet, two cash pans worth $1 785, a $75 sack of potatoes, and BDS$735 and US$375 in cash — all belonging to Sheena Lambert.

Cox also also admitted to breaking into the Hastings Rock Beach Facility between July 15 and 16 and stealing five shirts valued at $250, a $35 hat, a $70 sweater, a $75 pair of shoes, two chargers worth $35, $30 belonging to Mavis Rice, and a $1 500 weed whacker belonging to the Government of Barbados.

In a third burglary, committed between July 17 and 18, Cox entered the Backyard Restaurant as a trespasser and stole five bottles of rum worth $80, a $90 bottle of whiskey, 24 bottles of vodka valued at $95, 12 beers valued at $60, a $190 tablet, a $450 drill, an $80 hammer, a $100 saw, and a $50 speaker belonging to Fitzroy Needham.

He also admitted that on July 18, he had a flick knife, an offensive weapon, along Bay Street without lawful authority or reasonable excuse.

“I just really want to kick my habit,” Cox, who had 15 previous convictions, told Chief Magistrate Ian Weekes.

He also admitted that he had previously been placed in a drug treatment facility by the court but had failed to complete the programme.

Sentencing Cox to nine months in prison on each charge, Magistrate Weekes told him: “I was trying to work with you, but there is nothing more I can do for you.”

His sentences will run concurrently.

Describing it as “one of the saddest cases” she has ever encountered, Madam Justice Laurie-Anne Smith-Bovell gave Trae Rico Leacock a starting sentence of 13 years for killing his brother with a spear gun almost five years ago.

After discounts for mitigating factors, an early guilty plea, and time already spent on remand, Leacock—of Sutherland Hill No. 1, St Lucy—has two years and 220 more days to serve.

Leacock had previously pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to unlawfully killing his brother, Stephon Leacock, on October 22, 2021.

That day, the two brothers—who people said were always together—had gone spear fishing for sea cat with a group in the Maycock’s area, St Lucy. After rough seas forced them ashore, an argument broke out over the ownership of the sea cat. Although family and friends separated the pair, the dispute flared again, and Trae struck Stephon in the face with the pointed side of a spear gun, fatally wounding him.

Witnesses rushed to the nearby Harrison Point facility for help, but when a nurse arrived, Stephon had no pulse. A post-mortem revealed he died of traumatic brain injury.

Trae told police he had intended to strike his brother with the bottom of the spear gun, not the pointed end.

During the sentencing hearing, Justice Smith-Bovell noted Leacock’s intellectual, social and emotional challenges, describing him as a slow learner with limited reading and writing skills. His psychological report also indicated chronic anger, an inability to think critically, and significantly below-average intelligence.

“As sad as the facts of this case may be, and as much as the now convicted man did not intend the consequences of his actions, his sentence must be of a custodial nature. A life was lost over a sea cat,” Justice Smith-Bovell stated.

She found aggravating the use of an offensive weapon and the element of revenge in the attack, while citing the spontaneous nature of the offence as a mitigating factor.

Taking into account his remorse, youth at the time, and significant intellectual challenges, the judge reduced the starting sentence by two years. She also credited him for his 1 362 days on remand and gave him a one-third discount.

Justice Smith-Bovell also ordered that while at Dodds Prison, he undergo psychotherapy, anger management, and drug counselling, and enrol in vocational, literacy and numeracy programmes.

“It is clear from your psychological report that you require an intense programme to assist in rehabilitating you and addressing your educational needs to prepare you for your re-integration into society,” Justice Smith-Bovell asserted.

The case was prosecuted by Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale SC and State Counsel Paul Prescod. Defence attorney Safiya Moore represented the convicted man.