FROM DEATH ROW TO PULPIT
Ex-con trying to win souls for Christ
Three years ago one of Jamaica’s most notorious criminals walked out of prison after nearly 40 years.
But now Berrisford Robinson, who even spent five years on death row, says he is now trying to win souls for Christ after giving his life to God.
Robinson, who will turn 63 next month, said “I used to rob, shoot and murder. I got caught up in the wrong company with some guys in Kingston and we did a lot of wrong.”
In the late 1970s and early 80s, Robinson, by his own admission, was a young menace who left behind a trail of blood, and enjoyed doing so.
“Mi always did have money, can get fi party and have sex wid any woman mi want dem time deh. Mi did always have food, mi never care about anything else,” he said. When Robinson was 17, he was sent to Kingston to live with relatives in the tough Waltham Park community.
The intention, he says, was to further his education but instead he found himself in the wrong company.
At 21, he and friends committed a robbery in Newell, St Elizabeth but were later found by police. Robinson was shot while three of his friends were killed in a shootout with the lawmen.
ESCAPED LOCKUP
Robinson said he was taken to hospital to receive treatment under police guard. One month later, he was taken to the Lacovia Police Station and held for five days, before being transported to the Black River station where he was charged with robbery and shooting with intent. But a year later, he and nine other inmates escaped. Robinson immediately got hold of an illegal firearm from an associate, but soon encountered trouble. “When mi ina di swamp a hide out, some man see me and start run mi dung. Mi tell di man dem say mi just a pass through di community, but one of dem come up and chop mi on mi hand wid di machete. After him chop mi, mi shot him. He died same time,” he said. Robinson managed to escape but his luck ran out hours later.
“Mi go pon a mini bus say mi a go back a town, but because mi a strange face di driver pretend like say him a get gas a one gas station and call di police. Mi did have the gun ina di back, so when di police come and search di bus dem find di gun and a so dem tek mi weh and bring mi a station ina Mandeville,” he said.
Robinson was later transferred to Kingston and was eventually convicted of murder and was initially sentenced to death. After five years, he got a new sentence of 25 years imprisonment before being eligible for parole as it was considered inhumane for prisoners to be on death row over a protracted period.
As he continues his reintegration in society, he said time in prison has given him the conviction to help as many youths as possible to stay out of trouble.
“Crime will only lead you to prison, the morgue and the cemetery,” he said. “I am now a missionary for God. I want to teach people as much as possible about the love of Jesus because it is only through His will shall a man be saved.”