A West Ruimveldt gold miner was yesterday sentenced to nearly five years in prison after being found guilty of armed robbery.
Nicko Layne’s 58-month-long sentence was delivered by Magistrate Judy Latchman, who handed down the sentence based on the fact that a gun and knife were used during the robbery and the crime seemed to be organised.
Layne, 20, was charged in June with robbing Shafeek Mohammed of a smartphone and a quantity of cash amounting to $65,300. He was with an accomplice during the attack.
According to Mohammed, a taxi driver, on May 6th, he was driving along Parade Street when two men stopped his car and one entered the front passenger seat and the other the backseat.
He revealed that the man beside him had a gun and threatened to shoot him, while the other, identified as Layne, held him in a vice while being armed with a knife.
Mohammed testified that he had seen Layne’s face in his rearview mirror for about five to eight minutes, allowing him to identify him as one of the perpetrators.
Magistrate Latchman stated that she had found Mohammed to be a credible witness and so, having given weight to his testimony, was satisfied that Layne had indeed robbed the taxi driver with the intention to permanently deprive him of the items.
Although the defendant was sentenced yesterday, he will be required to return to court again on November 27th, to attend a hearing related to another armed robbery charge. Layne had also been charged in June with using scissors to rob Ivor Hartman of a cellphone and a quantity of cash valued $30,400 at West Ruimveldt.
