Man sentenced to five years for 2006 knife attack
A High Court judge has sentenced a man to five years' hard labour for a knife attack in St James in 2006.
Brent Baptiste was convicted by a jury on February 27 of wounding with intent in a knife attack on Joel St John in 2006.
On December 3, Justice Hayden St Clair-Douglas sentenced him, citing the premeditated nature of the assault, but placing it in the mid-to-lower range of the sentencing scale.
The maximum sentence for wounding with intent under Section 12 of the Offences Against the Person Act is 15 years, the judge said.
Evidence presented in court revealed St John was standing with others on Bournes Road on December 1, 2006, when Baptiste approached, chased him, and inflicted an eight-centimetre laceration to his scalp and a three-centimetre cut to the back of his head.
Prosecutors argued that Baptiste deliberately targeted St John, intending to cause serious bodily harm.
Despite Baptiste's claims of self-defence during the trial, the jury rejected his account, leading the judge to question his remorse.
"The prisoner regrets the situation he finds himself in, but that is not remorse," the judge said.
The sentence began on the day of his conviction.
He was represented by Kirby Joseph. Tricia Samuel and Kimberly Gunness appeared for the State.
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"Man sentenced to five years for 2006 knife attack"