The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

A 32-year-old man was sentenced to almost five years in prison yesterday for robbing a jewellery store on Paradise Island of over half a million dollars worth of high-end watches last week.

Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt sentenced Antoin Harvey to four-and-a-half years behind bars for robbing John Bull’s Paradise Island store of $541,850 worth of Rolex watches on February 15.

In handing down the sentence, the judge scolded Harvey for his actions.

Harvey told Chief Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt that the armed robbery was an “honest mistake” on his part and that he was pressured to do it to because he needed money to pay the bills.

However, she said such an assertion was “unacceptable”, as there can never any justification for such a crime.

Harvey’s sentencing came after he pleaded guilty to one count each of stealing from a shop and causing damage stemming from the February 15 incident. He denied a single count of conspiring to steal from a shop, however, and will stand trial over the charge.

According to the facts read by the prosecutor, Assistant Superintendent Barrington Miller, on the date in question, a woman reported that she was about to close the John Bull store in Coral Towers at Atlantis sometime around 10.55pm when two males, one of whom was Harvey, entered wearing orange and red Hawaiian shirts and brown hats.

An initial report from police said one of the males produced a firearm, causing the store’s employees to flee to the back of the store. Police said two showcases were smashed during the incident and an assortment of luxury watches were stolen before the thieves escaped.

According to police, the showcases are estimated to be worth some $21,321.89.

During the sentencing, the chief magistrate noted that he faced a maximum sentence of seven years in prison. However, she took into consideration that Harvey pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and did not waste the court’s time. Thus, she said she was obliged to give him a “discount” for his early plea.

“I must do it, as a matter of law,” she said.

Nonetheless, she said what served as clear aggravating factors was that he deliberately went to Paradise Island and threatened the Bahamas’ key industry by robbing a store in the country’s “premier” tourist destination.

Making the crime more “egregious”, the chief magistrate said, was that that over $500,000 worth of Rolex watches were stolen that have not yet been retrieved and returned to their rightful owner.

“So what does that mean? Someone has to bear the cost of the watches,” she said.

Chief Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt consequently gave Harvey a two-and-a-half year discount, but still sentenced him to four-and-a-half years in prison for his actions to send a “clear, clear message” that “crime does not pay”.

Harvey returns to court on May 13 to stand trial for conspiring to rob John Bull.