• 26-year-old Jaleel Ashton of Long Circular Road, St. James, was given the jail sentence by Port of Spain Senior Magistrate Brian Dabideen after he was found guilty of robbery with violence, robbery with aggravation and two kidnapping charges.
• Ashton was jailed for a total of 12 years but will only serve four as the charges were ordered to run concurrently.
• According to the evidence in the cases, Ashton was alleged to have committed the crimes on November 17 and 24, 2020.
• In the first incident, Ashton allegedly picked up the victim in Chaguaramas and she asked to be taken to Port-of-Spain.
• Upon reaching George Cabral Street in St James, however, Ashton told the victim he had a gun in his side bag and took her handbag, in which she had a carton of cigarettes valued at $284 and $3,079 in cash. He then dropped her off at the corner of Shine and Duke Streets in Port-of-Spain.
• In the second incident, Ashton and an unnamed accomplice, who was pretending to be a passenger in his car, picked up the second victim, who was travelling to Carenage, in Westmoorings.
• Upon reaching Glencoe, the accomplice placed his hand around the victim’s neck and robbed her of a cellphone valued at $6,500 and a $3,000 gold chain. The men then drove to Macqueripe Bay, where they released her before driving away.
• Ashton of Long Circular Road, St James, was captured by police after an operation was conducted following several reports from female victims.
• The women stated they were taken to Fort George Hill or other deserted areas by the suspect, purporting himself to be a PH taxi driver in a silver Nissan Note – registration PDR 4017. The suspect would then assault and rob his victims.
• Officers coordinated an operation between 6pm8 and 11pm on November 25th 2020 and the vehicle was intercepted at the traffic lights on Western Main Road and Columbus Circular, Westmoorings.
• Several identification parades were conducted where the suspect was reportedly identified by three persons.
