Man gets 5½ years for breaking into school cafeteria

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Ansonie Benjamin (File photo)
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By Latrishka Thomas

[email protected]

A man has been sentenced to a prison term of five and a-half years for his involvement in a break-in at All-Saints Secondary School nearly five years ago.

The individual in question is Ansonie Benjamin, a 29-year-old who, along with co-defendants Jarvania Simon and Tyrike John, was arrested and charged in connection with the break-in back in 2018.

Benjamin pleaded guilty to the single charge in 2020 while Simon and John, in addition to the break-in charges, were also convicted for possessing firearms during the incident.

The incident took place around 1:50am on December 12, 2018, when a security officer at the school observed three men, two of whom were armed, wearing hoodies and masks on the school premises.

The security officer promptly called the police for assistance. Upon arrival, the officers conducted a search and found the men in the cafeteria, where they were loading food items into backpacks.

As the police announced their presence, the men fled from the building. During the chase, one of the security officers discharged a firearm, and they also heard gunshots originating from the northern direction.

Later, they saw the assailants attempting to scale the fence in an effort to escape.

An officer caught up with John who fell into a ditch and was apprehended there.

After a thorough search, Benjamin was found hiding in nearby bushes.

Subsequent searches yielded a knapsack and two pistols.

The third assailant was found walking along Jonas Road on another day.

One of the defendants disclosed to the police that Benjamin had approached them sometime after 11pm that night, expressing hunger. They collectively decided to break into the school to obtain food items.

At the time of the incident, Simon and Benjamin were both 24 years old, while John was 19.

John and Simon had previously been sentenced in 2020 to 10 years and eight years imprisonment, respectively.

Meanwhile, Benjamin awaited sentencing until he was finally sentenced by Justice Ann Marie Smith yesterday.

The judge began with a baseline sentence of 10 years but, after considering both aggravating and mitigating factors, ultimately sentenced him to spend five years and six months in His Majesty’s Prison.

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