Appeal court cuts jail time for shutter-fitter scammer
(CNS): Garfield Antonio Robb, who was jailed last year for five years and ordered to pay compensation to the victims he conned out of cash, has had his sentence reduced and the compensation order quashed. Robb was paid to install shutters and patios but never did the work. He stole over $15,000 from at least nine people over a seven-year period, and was found guilty after trial in 2023 — a conviction he did not challenge.
However, having been unrepresented at the time of sentencing, Robb appealed the sentence last month, this time with the help of a defence attorney. His appeal was based on the grounds that the trial judge, Justice Frank Williams, had accepted case law presented by the prosecution that was not applicable to his case, including the suggestion that this was a breach of trust case, which it was not.
In addition, Justice Williams did not take into account the fact that Robb was in significant debt and had no means of paying a compensation order.
At the appeal, Robb’s attorney, Gregory Burke, advanced four principal submissions that the judge and the prosecution had got wrong: The judge erred in stating that the offence was a breach of trust; he had treated Robb’s lack of remorse as he continued to refute the allegations as an aggravating factor; he had made a compensation order that Robb could not possibly meet; and the prosecutor had failed to draw the judge’s attention to the relevant guidelines.
The appeal court said the crown’s lawyer had “very sensibly and responsibly conceded that each of the appellant’s four submissions was well made” and was not able to justify the submissions his colleague had made at the time of sentencing.
Taking into account the submissions and Robb’s lack of previous convictions, the appeal court judges ordered that the overall sentence of five years’ imprisonment be set aside. They substituted a sentence of three years’ imprisonment on each of the nine counts to run concurrently, and quashed the compensation order.
Robb began his sentence in March 2023 and could be released in a matter of months.
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yes crime does pay in Cayman Is. What a pity. sad, so very sad indeed. That’s one of the reasons that crime are getting out of hand in Cayman Is.
whoever called cayman a land of scams????
cayman justice = no justice.
another bad day for judiciary and dpp….
just another day in wonderland for the rest of us.
Should be ordered to be deported as completing sentence.
I dont understand the sentencing, owes money, goes to jail which costs money. Isn’t someone who scammed people out of money better put to work with the obligation to pay back the victims? Wouldn’t that be the logic punishment? By law a portion of the income to be paid, etc.
Exactly right. You can’t pay your victims back, you don’t get a break. However, do we have the framework to make a person work and compile funds to recompense their victims? This is where recent UK regulations come into play: Prisoners’ Earning Act: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prisoners-to-pay-back-victims
They are on supervised work, say road work or whatever, and earn a wage and provide a service. They eventually provide some restitution for their victims. I have worked road construction waaaay in the past. That’s no easy duty. I’m not talking chain gangs by any means, but I think that would be a proper punishment. Something that could give them true and transformative closure.
Sounds like a story behind that “road work.” Community service much?
Just wondering @1:51pm – that’s how many people look at it, decent. But some people shouldn’t be treated with sense or compassion. simply retribution. People need to be held accountable, especially a repeat offender.
Absolute nonsense
There needs to be provisions made to eject idiots like this, even if they’re married to a Caymanian. You want a family life, go to Jamaica and enjoy.
So steal the money, spend it, tell the victims to pound sand and the judge will let you off. Sounds like good Cayman justice!
Florida man @ 12:09pm – essentially correct except is ‘Jamaican justice in Cayman’. Our entire legal system, from Attorney General at the top down to police constables are filled with Jamaicans and their ‘bredren’ culture. I’m surprised he even got charged in the first place!
Our judicial system is permeated by the same culture, unfortunately.
BTW, the defendant is a Jamaican, not Caymanian.
The reason he had no prior convictions was because for years and despite many complaints the RCIPS refused to charge him and allowed him to continue his dirty ways.
The police will tell you prison here is not a deterrent to crime, and the planned $200Million resort will end up being an invitation to spend incarceration in comfort, with 3 good meals a day and facilities to make sure that prisoners are happy and comfortable, all paid for by us.
We stupid or wa…?