Trio jailed over Good Friday blade attack

Three men were jailed for five years each today for launching a vicious knife and machete attack on Good Friday.

Sergio Robinson-Woolridge, 22, D’Angelo Clarke, 22 and Gavaska Bascome, 18, attacked Joshua Place at the Southampton Rangers Club on April 2, 2012.

Crown counsel Cindy Clarke told the court Mr Place was at a Good Friday event with his friends and family at 3pm that day. The defendants were among a large group of people.

At one point in the afternoon, Mr Place got involved in a scuffle in the parking with an unknown man.

A short time later, all three defendants attacked him.

Ms Clarke told the court Robinson-Woolridge and Clarke were armed with machetes while Bascome had a knife.

She said: “They began repeatedly chopping and stabbing the complainant with the bladed weapons as he was lying on the ground defenseless.

“Several other persons, including women and children were in close proximity and witnessed the attack.”

The court heard there were several bystanders who also witnessed the attack and broke it up.

Mr Place was taken to hospital and the defendants left the area.

He sustained a broken right leg, a cut to his right buttock, a stab wound to the right arm, a cut to the left wrist, a cut to the back of his head and a fracture to his left eye.

The incident was captured on CCTV footage as well as on a cell phone video camera. The footage was turned over the police.

Robinson-Woolridge and Clarke were arrested in June and Bascome in July.

During mitigation, the court heard the attack was provoked by Mr Place who had taken Clarke's chain off of him before the attack.

The chain belonged to Clarke’s murdered brother David Clarke.

Robinson-Woolridge’s lawyer Elizabeth Christopher said the attack happened because the chain was stolen.

Clarke’s lawyer Charles Richardson said: “Mr Clarke says Mr Place attacked him first and took a very expensive and valuable chain.

“If the complainant hadn’t snatched his chain and the complainant’s best friend hadn’t smashed a bottle over his head, we wouldn’t be here.”

All three men apologised for their actions and took responsibility for the attack.

Clarke said: “All I wanted back was my brother’s chain. If he never took that, I wouldn’t have gone though such desperate ways to get it back.”

Before sentencing the men, Puisne Judge Stephen Hellman acknowledged there was provocation and accepted that the defendant’s didn’t go looking for trouble.

He said: “The way in which you attempted to get the chain back was wholly wrong.

“You attacked your victim as a group. You used bladed weapons.

“You struck your victim while he had fallen on the ground.

“You are collectively responsible for his injuries.”

He continued: “The attack was in a public place where children were present.

“This was an instance of behaviour that is all too prevalent in this island.

“You are all equally responsible for what happened that day.”

Mr Hellman sentenced all three men to five years for possession of a bladed article.

Robinson-Woolridge was given two years for the attack while Clarke was given 18 months and Bascome 21 months. The sentences are to run concurrent.

They must each complete the violent offenders programme and the drug education programme.

Once the programmes are complete, they may apply for release from prison even if it’s before they have served one third of their sentence.

Most prisoners are eligible for parole once they've completed one third of their sentence.

Time spent in custody was taken into consideration.