Court of Appeal
Criminal Appeal No. 5 of 1987
16th June, 1987
SIR JAMES A. SMITH P.
SIR ALBERT L. STAINE J.A.
KENNETH ST. L. HENRY J.A.

Court of Appeal - Appeal against conviction for Burglary and aggravated assault - Whether decision unreasonable and not supported by evidence - Ample evidence in support of charges - No merit in appeal - Sentences although severe were not ecessive - Appeal dismissed.

J U D G M E N T

The Appellant Dennis Jones was found guilty of the offences of burglary and aggravated assault in that he entered the building known as Gush and Emery Construction Materials Store at night and stole a large number of articles from the shop valued at $3,029.10 Bze. and later the same day assaulted P.C Fitzroy Goldson with an ice pick.

Jones has appealed against his conviction on each of these offences and he also seeks leave to appeal against the sentences of 6 years and one year respectively to run concurrently.

There was abundant evidence called by the prosecution to prove these offences; the Appellant himself said nothing in his own defence and did not call any witnesses. The jury returned unanimous verdicts of guilty in respect of each offence. The Appellant has complained those decisions were unreasonable and not supported by the evidence. There was, as already stated ample evidence called in support of the charges which the jury clearly believed. Accordingly we find no merit in the appeal against these conviction

The Appellant although, only 22 years old, has a long criminal record. The sentences imposed totalled six years imprisonment. When imposing sentence the learned Chief Justice held that a very long sentence was not called for and commented that the Appellant lost a leg during this incident which makes it unlikely that he will embark on similar crimes in the future. We endorse the views of the Chief Justice and consider the concurrent sentences although severe were not excessive. Leave to appeal against sentence is therefore refused.

The appeal against conviction is dismissed.

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