Ex-con going back to prison after assaulting woman
ACorporate Area man, who at age 16 was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for manslaughter, will be heading back to prison after he was sentenced on robbery and assault charges yesterday.
Michael Gayle, 22, pleaded guilty to robbery with violence and assault with intent to rape in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court. On each count, he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at hard labour by Senior Parish Judge Lori- Anne Cole-Montaque. The sentences are to run concurrently. The court heard that he robbed the complainant of her Samsung cellular phone and attempted to sexually assault her. Gayle told the court that he has no family to turn to and no one to care for him.
“Me did a beg her a call and me kindly beg her fi get in contact with somebody. Due to certain stress weh me a go through, me nah nuh body fi help me,” Gayle told the court.
“So you are stressed and you think because you are stressed, you can rob this woman of her phone?” So anybody who asked somebody for the use of them phone, in the mind of anybody, they feel obliged that the person must lend them their phone?” the judge argued. But the complainant disputed Gayle’s claim that he wanted a call. She recounted that she was walking along the roadway when Gayle approached her and indicated that he had a firearm in his waistband.
“He held up his waist and said ‘Yow, me have me ting pon me, gimme dis’ and grabbed mi phone out mi hand. I did not do anything because I was aware of the thing from years back [his previous conviction]. So after that he held on to my hand, that’s where I got defensive and he said ‘ Hey gal, come yah’ and that’s when we started to tussle and he started to pull down my clothes. I got away and ran up the road and he ran in the opposite direction,” the complainant said.
“You are going to prison again. This was very, very wrong. The woman is walking, minding her own business, have her phone and you asked her for a call, she says no and you proceed to grab the phone from her? There is no way you can escape prison with this,” the judge cautioned.