Gunman claimed he was in fear for his life

(CNS): Justin Kyle Jackson, who alongside Eric Soto is expected to be sentenced on Friday for the manslaughter of retired prison officer Harry Elliott, told the police that days after that fatal shooting, he was armed with a different gun to the one that killed Elliott because he was in fear for his life.

Caine Thomas, who Jackson claimed had taken him and Soto to School Road to rob the numbers shop where Elliott was killed, was murdered the day before Jackson was arrested for possession of the second gun, and he told the police that he, too, had received threats.

Jackson told a social worker that he believed that if he had not handed himself in and been remanded in jail, he would also have been killed. To date, no one has been charged with the murder of Caine Thomas, who was also a key witness for the crown in a violent home invasion in 2017.

Alongside his conviction for manslaughter and the possession of a loaded unlicensed gun in relation to the death of Elliott, Jackson faces a separate firearms charge for the second gun.

While Jackson was on the run from the police over the Elliott killing, the police heard he was in West Bay in a white car and went in pursuit. They followed Jackson, who was in the car with Soto, up the Esterley Tibbetts Highway towards George Town, but during the chase, Jackson lost control of the car and crashed. He then fled on foot, leaving a 9mm Taurus semi-automatic handgun behind.

He later handed himself in and admitted to having the gun. Soto was also initially charged with its possession but later acquitted because Jackson admitted it was his gun and that Soto had no idea it was in the car.

Jackson is facing a mandatory minimum of seven years in jail, but in court Thursday, his attorney, Sallie Bennet-Jenkins KC, argued that to add seven years on top of the lengthy term Jackson is likely to get for the manslaughter conviction would be unjust and disproportionate, especially as the crimes have some connection.

The judge has the choice to run the sentence for the illegal gun possession concurrently or consecutively if she believes the crimes were connected, as she must consider the principle of totality and what could be a disproportionately long sentence.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Candia James Malcolm said the crimes were “similar in nature” and in close proximity, but they were still different crimes. However, she accepted that the judge must consider the global time her sentences would impose on Jackson.

Justice Cheryll Richards, who is presiding over the case, said she needed to consider how she would deal with the issue overnight and would deliver her ruling at 10am on Friday.