Prosecution appeals sentence of woman who planned robbery of Carlisle Bay Resort

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Kathy-Ann Isaac (File photo)
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By Latrishka Thomas

[email protected]

Days after a convicted robbery conspirator was sentenced to spend two years and six months in prison, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has filed an appeal against the sentence imposed on Kathy-Ann Isaac.

On Monday, Isaac was sentenced by Justice Ann-Marie Smith in the High Court for conspiring to rob her employer, the Carlisle Bay Resort, in 2018.

The appeal has been filed on the grounds the judge “erred in law and principle in imposing the sentence and that it was unduly lenient”.

The 35-year-old Urlings woman was charged with aggravated robbery in 2018 after she pretended to be a traumatised victim of a robbery at her workplace.

In a strange twist, just a week after the incident, the investigations pointed to Isaac being the mastermind behind the crime.

On the afternoon of June 30 2018, the Carlisle Bay Resort was targeted by a lone gunman who was seen on camera grabbing bags of money which had been packed by two workers who were captured on surveillance camera emptying a safe.

Isaac, who worked as an accounts clerk at the hotel, and was employed there for about 14 years, was one of those workers.

When Isaac and the other employee finished packing the gunman’s bag, accomplice Anthony “Thug Life” Govia – the brother of her boyfriend at the time – scurried off with about $100,000 in cash.

Govia, the accused gunman, is rumoured to have fled the country and has not been found by police to date.

Isaac pleaded guilty to the crime in February 2020 before a High Court judge, but in December that year having retained a new lawyer, Wendel Robinson, that initial plea was vacated and Isaac admitted to the lesser charge of conspiracy to rob instead.

Justice Smith, in making her decision, considered several factors including statements made in a pre-sentencing report and victim impact assessment.

Smith reminded the court of Isaac’s police interview where she blamed financial difficulties and depression for her committing the crime, the proceeds of which she planned to split with her co-conspirator.

Justice Smith also noted that in a pre-sentencing report, the mother-of-four was said to be the president of a Parent Teachers Association and a great mother to her children.

Her father indicated that she was taught good morals by him and her grandmother even after her mother passed away when she was only 12.

On the other hand, her former supervisor who is also the complainant in the case, described her attitude as hostile, uncooperative and disrespectful at times.

In a victim impact assessment, the complainant also told the court that the incident is lodged in her mind to this day and has resulted in frequent flashbacks, panic attacks and increased blood pressure.

Though the reports did not benefit Isaac in any way, two witnesses brought by her attorney spoke glowingly of her character.

Her lawyer also argued for his client to be given a non-custodial sentence based on the fact that her last child who is seven months old has a heart condition, she cooperated with the police, was placed on sick leave due to depression, she had financial difficulties, she expressed remorse and feels foolish for having been played.

But the judge said that the main mitigating factors she applied in her sentencing were the fact that the defendant had no previous convictions, apologised to the court and is a mother of four.

The aggravating factors taken into account were that the act was premeditated, she conspired with her boyfriend’s brother for months and brandished a gun, and that she was also the mastermind behind the crime.

The judge also said she had consulted Acting Superintendent of Prisons Jermaine Anthony who informed the court that the female wing of the prison is in fairly good condition and none of the women had tested positive for Covid-19.

In the end, Justice Smith began sentencing Isaac with seven years in mind – the maximum for robbery

But taking into account the aforementioned factors, she gave a lesser sentence.

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