“I took a life that was not mine to take and I am deeply and sincerely sorry. I know that no matter what I say, I can’t bring back that life, but please forgive.”
That was part of Aubrey Bobb’s address to the court as he begged for mercy before being sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of city businessman Godfrey Scipio, who was popularly known as “Saga.” He, however, would be eligible for parole in just about 25 years.
Responding to a moving impact statement presented on behalf of the dead man’s son, a seemingly apologetic Bobb said that the young man can be assured that he (Bobb) would never again find himself involved in crime.
After hearing from the impact statement of the void he was responsible for creating by taking the life of a father who was described as a pillar, Bobb, who constantly bowed his head, repeatedly said how sorry he was.
Just over a month ago at his arraignment, Bobb pleaded guilty to the capital charge. He accepted that he murdered Scipio during a robbery on October 12, 2017 at Stanley Place, Kitty, Georgetown.
At his sentencing hearing yesterday morning before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow, Bobb sought to explain that he had been pressured into carrying out the act but was quick to make it clear that he was not shying away from owning responsibility for his actions.
He said that he knows he had committed a horrible “wrong,” “a mistake,” and that he must now face the consequences for his poor actions and decisions.
“I killed him, and I gah pay fuh wah I do,” he said even as he begged for forgiveness from the family of the deceased.
According to the offender, his life was “messed-up” at the time, and after having years behind bars to reflect on what he had done, he wished he was as “brave, strong and wise” then, as he says he is now.
His message to the dead man’s son, who said he wanted the Court to deal with his father’s killer in such a manner that he would never again conceive of hurting another family as he did theirs was: “I am a better person today.”
He begged his victim’s son to forgive him, admitting that he knows it would be a difficult task for him to do.
According to the 31-year-old father of two, he has been preparing himself behind bars, in order that he can make a “positive impact in society” once he is released from prison someday. He added that he wants to be a positive influence to his own children as well.
Begging for mercy, Bobb sought to advance that he is not the “bad” person, many may be perceiving him to be, but that he was weak in standing up to the pressures of a policeman, who he said was behind the entire crime.
“My life was involved too,” Bobb sought to explain, adding that he really “wasn’t strong at de time fuh stand up to he.” He was, however, again quick to own his crime, for which he said he had to face the punishment.
Presenting a plea in mitigation on behalf of his client, attorney Teriq Mohammed asked the Court to consider his expression of remorse, which he says has been evidenced by his cooperation with investigators from the moment he was arrested five years ago.
On this point, Mohammed pointed out that Bobb had admitted his involvement from the inception and had never once wasted the Court’s time either.
Referencing a prison report, the lawyer also begged the Judge to consider his client’s good behaviour since being incarcerated.
Relaying the facts of the case, prosecutor Latifah Elliot said that on the day in question Bobb, who was riding along the road, spotted Scipio who was wearing his chains, and decided that he would rob him.
She told the court that Bobb, who was armed with a pair of scissors at the time, told investigators that he trailed the vehicle in which Scipio was travelling, with the intention that he would “try something.”
Before the vehicle got to its destination, however, Elliot said Bobb related that he had changed his mind but later contacted a friend from whom he requested a gun.
The court heard that once the firearm was loaned to Bobb, he then returned to where Scipio had been earlier dropped off, and he waited for about an hour until he exited the premises, where he approached with the gun pointed.
Elliot said that Bobb began waving the gun and a round discharged, after which Scipio fell to the ground. She said it was at that point Bobb relieved the man and the woman he was with of their chains before making good his escape.
The dead man’s son in his impact statement said that Bobb’s action changed his life the moment he received the dreadful news that his “best friend and role model” was gone.
The man said in his statement that he is not one to be emotional but that his father’s death, and more particularly the way in which met his demise, “have shattered my life” and that of the entire family.
The statement shared, too, that owing to the loss of her son, Scipio’s aged mother became ill and died a short time after as well.
In imposing sentence, Justice Barlow told Bobb that his degree of calculation and premeditation could not go unnoticed.
She told Bobb that it was the greed he displayed that ultimately led to an innocent life being taken. “You sat there and you waited for an hour,” the Judge lamented, as she told the offender that he would be visited with a sentence which would send a strong message of deterrence to potential offenders.
She noted, too, a previous robbery antecedent, while explaining to him that his explanation of the gun merely going off and him having no intention of killing Scipio could not be countenanced, as he had willfully armed himself with the weapon in the event he needed to use it.
Referencing a number of case law authorities and having regard to all the circumstances of the case, Justice Barlow handed Bobb a life sentence, but ordered that he is not to be eligible for parole before 30 years.
From that, however, she deducted 4 years, 11 months and nine days for the time he had spent on remand, noting that that was the only deduction the Court saw fit to make.
Apart from that, however, she ordered that the former miner continue receiving counselling for the remainder of his time behind bars.
Two policemen, including a former ‘Best Cop’ awardee, had also been charged with murdering the businessman who was gunned down outside of a city hotel.
Detective Corporal Derwin Eastman, who was once named ‘Best Cop,’ is currently awaiting trial. He was committed to stand trial last year after a Magistrate found that there was a prima facie case against him.
His former co-accused Constable Jamenson Williams was, however, discharged last year following the conclusion of a preliminary inquiry (PI) at which the Magistrate ruled that there was insufficient evidence.
Scipio, formerly of Lot ‘ZZ’ 22 D’Urban Street, Wortmanville, Georgetown, was shot once in his abdomen during a robbery.
He subsequently succumbed to his injuries while receiving medical attention at the Woodlands Hospital.
The police had said that the shooter discharged a round, hitting Scipio in the abdomen, before relieving him of his jewellery; after which he escaped on foot.
