Teen jailed 3 years for grocery store stick-up

| 28/03/2016 | 28 Comments

Deliza's West Bay(CNS): An 18-year-old boy from West Bay was sent to jail for three years last week after he admitted his part in an armed, daylight robbery at a grocery store in the district last September. Michael Aaron Bush was just 17 when he and another masked man held up Deliza’s Grocery store on North West Point Road with an imitation hand gun at around 5:00 in the afternoon and made off with an undisclosed sum of cash. The teenager and his accomplice made their escape on a black scooter but Bush was recognized by one of the employees as an earlier customer.

The local youngster was arrested the next day and admitted his part in the stick-up and was later charged. Pointing to a drug dependency problem for which he said he needed help, Bush pleaded guilty in December. Following a social enquiry, he learned his fate from Grand Court judge, Justice Robin McMillan, last Monday.

Based on previous sentencing precedents, the circumstances of the crime, the young man’s difficult background, his age, and no previous violent offences, his early admission and the judge’s own discretion, Justice McMillan handed down a three-year prison term for both the robbery and the possession of an imitation gun, which he ordered to run concurrently.

The judge said it was clear that Bush’s use of ganja had contributed to his part in the robbery but the defendant had made it clear he wanted to address his misuse of drugs and wanted help.

“In the present case the defendant is fortunate not to be facing a considerably higher sentence in light of the very serious offences committed,” Justice McMillan said as he delivered his sentencing ruling. “It is to be hoped that Mr Bush will use the tie in custody to take advantage of the opportunities offered to him in Northward to rectify his substance abuse problem and become a productive law-abiding member of the Caymanian community,” he added, as he sent the young man down to begin serving his time and directed that the five months that Bush has already served should be taken into account.

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Comments (28)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Pathetic sentence. He should have got the proper 10 years for his involvement in armed crime. The young ones are far more likely to reoffend and society is therefore best served by locking them up for longer. I do not give two hoots about “difficult background” sob stories. Criminals are criminals because they are greedy, selfish, immoral and lazy. There are plenty of people from “difficult backgrounds” that life a constructive life free of crime.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Deportable, born Caymanian, status holder, visitor, does not matter. He should have gotten double that sentence!!

  3. Anonymous says:

    There is no link between ganjs and crime. They want you to believe that.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Ganja smokers are not violent people. Ganja traffickers are another story.

    • Anonymous says:

      No. They are just crappy at parenting, which then leads to violence.

      • Anonymous says:

        Agreed with the crappy parenting. Lazy fathers that smoke all day. Don’t work. Don’t contribute to anything, but whine about how the world is against them and they can’t get a job.

        Add to this the family and parents that cover for these crappy young men in society and have everyone believe they are angels. They take care of them as if they are children when they are grown adults 20s, 30s and even 40s. Still washing their clothes, cooking and cleaning up after them and driving the parents or girl friends cars.

        There is no incentive for them to work. They are given everything.

        When bored, things like this happen. They need some excitement in their life. They don’t work. No social interaction other than when high. It’s not a productive life.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Stealing because of cannabis? Just plant a lickle seed and you’ll have a herb. Cannabis isn’t a drug. Alcohol,cocaine, advil, tylenol.. Those are drugs. Cannabis is a plant. To label cannabis as a drug is ignorant. Cannabis is not an addictive substance like some of the above DRUGS listed. He robbed the store because he wanted to and cannabis had little to nothing to do with that.

    • Anonymous says:

      Tetrahydrocannabinol is precisely a drug and can be very powerful and impairing. THC / Cannabis can result to crime in this simple way. Many teens who spend their day smoking cannabis, usually won’t be able to hold a job and become useless members of society making that much more likely that they will result to stealing and praying on others to support their deadbeat useless selves.

      3 years is a slap on the wrist for those no honor flunkies.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Did he hand over the other guy or was he found?

  7. Hulk says:

    Harsh sentences have never been a deterrent to crime. Please research the US criminal system. They are paying billions for their 3 strike laws. Yet they have the highest incarceration rate on the world. It never deterred any criminal only made them more hardened.

  8. The Country With No Plan says:

    Maybe if our Country had provided the help, through Counselling and Family Intervention services, this young man- like many more that will commit crimes – could have been helped to find other paths. Caymanians you are fooling yourselves if you believe building more and bigger Prisons is the answer. EVERY Developed Country in the World – with the US finally joining – have recognized that lack of services, longer sentences and more prisoners is a costly and unsubstainable approach. But I understand that we must learn the hard and costly $ way. Too bad.

    • Anonymous says:

      Whilst I do agree with you to a certain extend, society can not be held responsible for people who decide to have children and then decide they don’t want to be a parent. Also, a difficult upbringing is not an excuse and should be no mitigation factor. There are plenty of kids from “rich” families with all the bells and whistles included who turn to drugs and crime as they are just as neglected as other kids. Are they also going to get the mitigating factor of a “difficult” upbringing?

      Finally, there are millions of poor kids around the world who live under horrible circumstances, and dare I say probably much worse than the experience most kids on this Island can even imagine. They don’t all resort to crime. We really need to stop making excuses every step of the way. Any crime including weapons should automatically dictate a higher sentence.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Clever how smoking weed is related to crime.
    The two have nothing to do with eachother.

  10. Anonymous says:

    “It is to be hoped that Mr Bush will use the time in custody to take advantage of the opportunities offered to him in Northward to rectify his substance abuse problem…”

    What opportunities at Northward? If anything, this sentence gives the kid the opportunity to serve his time AND still smoke ganja! Why not mandate him to drug treatment instead, to at least give him a chance to kick the habit?

  11. Anonymous says:

    I wonder if the people pushing for legalization of ganja will understand this? Clearly a fool can see it is a pathway to crime for some people. It is not proven to cure any sickness and clearly is proven to mess with the brains and personalities of the youths. I hope he is serious and will avail himself of counseling and treatment while incarcerated .

  12. Anonymous says:

    Soft sentences such as this, is a key reason we have a persistent and growing problem of armed robberies / violent crime. Criminals are not afraid of the consequences of their actions!

  13. Anonymous says:

    I wonder how many people will ask if he can be deported once he has served his sentence.

    • Anonymous says:

      If he is a foreigner the law is in place for deportation after release. If he is a Mac Jamcaymian then we are stuck with him.

      • Anonymous says:

        If he is a MacManian we are not stuck with him. Cabinet can and should revoke the grant – something the law provides for if the individual is sentenced to a year or more.

      • Not political says:

        If it makes you happy, he is a Caymanian! Still want to deport him? What we should be soon is deporting all the foreigners who we are paying $60,000 a year to keep in Northward and stamp their exit visas undesirable and unable to return to return to the Cayman Islands.

    • Anonymous says:

      deported to were

    • Anonymous says:

      He is caymanian, dummy.
      And he should get 10 years.

    • Anonymous says:

      Upon release he will be deported to his country/place of birth…West Bay.
      Never to return nor wreak hooligan havoc upon the law abiding citizens of this Fair Isle we call Grand.
      On the other hand, Brac and Little should up their guard.

    • Anonymous says:

      I’ll bite. Is he deportable. Has anyone even bothered to check?

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