Mother serving ten years over boyfriend’s gun
(CNS): Thalia Ashanti Barnes (25), the mother of a seven-year-old child, was sentenced to ten years in jail last summer for the possession of her boyfriend’s gun. The court found there were no exceptional circumstances relating to her or the crime when she was convicted in December 2022.
The details of the case were revealed only recently when the sentencing ruling delivered by Justice Cheryll Richards in June 2023 was published on the court website.
Last month, Parliament voted to increase the minimum term for the possession of illegal guns after trial from ten to twenty years, but Barnes’ case serves to illustrate what can happen to anyone with even a slight connection to unlawful weapons.
Barnes was arrested and charged after the police raided the home she shared with her boyfriend, Marcus Manderson (34), in December 2021 and found an unlicensed loaded Hi-Point semi-automatic pistol in a printer in the couple’s bedroom.
A swab of the sights and grips of that firearm produced a mixed DNA result that the defendant could not be excluded from. While the jury found that Barnes must have known about and touched the weapon, she argued that the gun belonged to her boyfriend; she had nothing to do with it and had been fearful of going to the police.
But both Barnes and Manderson, who failed to appear for trial after jumping bail, were convicted of the illegal possession of the gun and of the ammunition.
During the sentencing process, her attorney, Crister Brady of Brady Law, had argued that there were exceptional circumstances in the case and the court could deviate from the mandatory minimum sentence (which was ten years at the time) because of her fear of Manderson, who has a long criminal history. He also pointed out that the gun in question had not been used in a crime.
In a letter to the court, Barnes said she took “full responsibility for the bad choice of a partner I made”. Appealing for leniency, she said there were times “he would threaten to kill me when we fought, and I called the police every time”.
As she apologised for the circumstances she had placed herself in, Barnes also wrote, “I am no harm to anyone; I abide by the law, and I told the truth and nothing but the truth when I said that the gun was not mine. I have never owned a gun before and do not intend to ever own one.”
But the court found that “making bad relationship choices”, regardless of her difficult upbringing that may have led to them, did not amount to an exceptional circumstance. “The Court has also considered whether the minimum sentence would be disproportionate and/or arbitrary in light of all the circumstances of this case,” Justice Richards said but again found it was not.
“In the Court’s view there is nothing in the circumstances looked at holistically which can be regarded as exceptional, either in relation to the defendant or to the offence. Neither is there any such single striking or specific feature which in this Court’s view would justify a finding of exceptional circumstances,” Richards said as she handed down the term of ten years in prison with time served to be taken into account.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
She should have had a Caymanian jury trial.
Dumb And dumber
Change the title of the article to “Woman held accountable for gun possession.”
I’ve the women are the ones that smuggle the guns into the clubs.
Just as foolish as a woman pasting large customized stickers on her vehicle with slogans like “do we have have a problem?” while driving like a maniac on Cayman’s roads.
Good. Manderson should get double. Any prospect of deportation of either?
No unfortunately. I believe both are Caymanian.
I wasn’t aware you could deport a Caymanians from Cayman.
Sure. Just send them to the Brac.
Let this be a warning to other young women to stay away from thugs. They will bring nothing but hardship to your life. 25 is so young and this charge will follow her forever.
Make better life choices!!
Choosing a good partner is one of the most important decisions you can make. Sadly for her she’s either a gangster as well or makes very poor choices or both.
The fact that she is a mother is irrelevant.
Gangsters Moll, enabler, accomplice, facilitator are far more appropriate.
This law is draconian! A man runs into someone intentionally with his car and kills someone -acquitted. Live in the same house (probably in fear) with an unlicensed firearm with no previous convictions and you go to jail?
Nope she is just as guilty as manderson. You honestly think this woman didnt know she was with a known gun man? playing innocent beaten woman act not going work here. have fun Thalia
Well think about it this way, if someone decided to hide a gun in your house who is going to jail? Think carefully what the law says.
Live with criminals you might get treated as one. Poor life choices.
It was a jury that acquitted the car killer. Law had nothing to do with it. Had they convicted him he would have been serving life.
Jumping bail to avoid trial wasn’t likely to promote an exceptional circumstances plea.
CNS: Sorry if it wasn’t clear. Ony Manderson jumped bail.