Delays in case cut bank burglary gang’s jail time in half

(CNS) The sentences of three men convicted of an “audacious burglary” at the Royal Bank of Canada in 2016 and a woman accused of handling $4,000 of the more than CI$500,000 that was stolen were all cut by 50% on Friday because it took over eight years for the case to conclude.

David Samuel Bodden, a former employee at the bank who was the ‘inside man’ and said to be the ringleader by prosecutors, was handed a four-year term instead of eight years, while his co-defendants, Statan Omar Clarke and Elton David Webster, were given 3½ years instead of seven.

Webster’s wife, Eliza Webster, saw her twelve-month jail term cut to six for the possession of criminal property, which the court then suspended for two years, largely because of the hardship it would have imposed on the couple’s four children if they had both gone to prison.

All four denied the allegations and have continued to claim they are innocent since they were found guilty by a jury earlier this year.

All of the men were of previous good character, and as he handed down his sentencing ruling, Justice Roger Chapple said he could not understand why they had chosen to throw away all they had achieved in their lives and taken part in this crime. The judge said the crime was unusual and needed Bodden as the inside man, which represented a gross breach of trust on his part.

But he said his co-defendants had also breached a trust to a certain extent as they were well aware that Bodden worked at the bank, had the access they needed to get into the banking area and was able to open the cash draws and switch off the CCTV so they could take the money unseen and undetected.

Justice Chapple wondered why Boddem, after working his way up the career ladder at the bank since 2007, had chosen to betray the bank where he was a manager. “Only he can know, and I cannot fathom,” he said.

The judge said the break-in was a well-planned, sophisticated crime that had resulted in a long and complex investigation. Detectives had to piece together the evidence after Eliza Webster was arrested at the airport in possession of notes taken in the bank heist, which she claimed had come from an ATM.

The crown said that in June 2016, cash amounting to CI$464,910 and US$126,187 was stolen during the overnight break-in at the Shedden Road branch in George Town, where Bodden worked.

But it was not until May of this year that police and prosecutors finally presented their case against all the suspects in court, eight years after the break-in and Webster’s arrest at Owen Roberts International. Given the effect of the lengthy wait for their day in court for all four defendants and their families, the judge reduced all of the sentences by half.

He said that such a “very long period between the commission of the offence and its conclusion would have had a major impact” on their lives and that none of the delays were due to the defendants.

Justice Chapple also dismissed the crown’s arguments that the burglary had done “incalculable damage” to this jurisdiction’s reputation as an offshore sector. He said that such a rare, if not unique, burglary of a high street bank could not remotely impact the financial sector’s reputation or prevent people from investing here.

However, he dismissed the defence’s claim that half a million dollars was very little to RBC. He said it was much more than a “drop in the bucket” for the bank, which had claimed the loss on its insurance. Justice Chapple found that the amount was no less serious because the victim was rich and rejected the defence’s argument.

“Half a million dollars, none of which has been recovered by the Bank, is a large amount to lose,” the judge added.

All three men were remanded in custody immediately after the sentencing ruling, as the judge rejected their request to spend Christmas with their families before beginning their terms of imprisonment in the New Year.