Bermuda's Court of Appeal reduces jail sentence of Jamaican man

The Court of Appeal in Bermuda has reduced an "excessive" jail sentence on a Jamaican national, who abducted a female expatriate worker from a bus stop and sexually assaulted her.

The court has reduced the jail term from 16 to 14 years.

Brittonie Taylor, 31,carried out the attack on South Shore in Smith’s parish in May 2011.

Taylor, a Bermuda resident, pleaded guilty to the daylight assault at a Supreme Court hearing the following February, thus avoiding the need for the case to go to trial.

But the sentencing judge, Carlisle Greaves, condemned Taylor’s actions, saying that “the revulsion raised in the bosoms of right-thinking members of this society must raise the strongest urge to have him put away forever”.

He added that the 16-year jail term was “the maximum I think I can give him, given the case law before me”.

At a sitting of the Court of Appeal on Monday, defence lawyer Marc Daniels argued that the sentence was “harsh and excessive”.

After a period of deliberation behind closed doors, the three member Court of Appeal, led by president Edmund Zacca, agreed with Daniels and said Taylor’s sentence should be reduced to 14 years.

“Although this is a serious case of sexual assault, it cannot be said to be the most serious of offences,” Justice Zacca said, adding that it appeared to be “manifestly excessive”.

Daniels acknowledged that Taylor had committed “a serious sexual assault”, which can carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in jail, but claimed that the “egregiousness” of the attack was at the lower end of the scale. At the initial hearing, Daniels had recommended a sentence of between nine and 13 years.

He pointed out that, had Taylor pleaded not guilty, he would likely have been given a 24-year jail term after trial — a sentence comparable to that of rapists who had committed far more vicious offences.

The lawyer said Taylor, who had “admitted his wrongdoing and expressed genuine remorse”, was also suffering from a bipolar condition and, according to reports, represented a low risk of reoffending.

But prosecutor Larissa Burgess argued that there were “serious and aggravating” features about the crime that warranted a lengthy jail term.

She said Taylor had threatened to kill his victim and that she also suffered injuries during the attack after being dragged across rocky ground.

She said the only reason Taylor had not committed rape was because his victim begged for mercy and offered him money.