The fact that Dwayne King committed six counts of aggravated robbery and burglary between December 2011 and May 2012 had nothing to do with his parenting.
According to a presentencing report by Probation Officer Louis Linton which was read in the No. 5 Supreme Court earlier this week, King’s mother, stepfather and paternal grandfather “treated him well and instilled positive values”.
King, of Bayfield, St Philip, pleaded guilty to burglarizing several business places by holding up employees and demanding cash. The incidents occurred at Texaco Four Roads, Teddy’s Mini Mart, JJs Variety, Chefette Wildey and a bar at Massiah Street, St John.
King was masked during the robberies and either he or another person had a gun on each occasion.
By the 23-year-old’s own admission to the probation officer, he began following the wrong crowd and using drugs in his
teens “in spite of warnings from his mother” and after “shifting from her teachings”.
After his mother put King through a two-year Certificate Course in Auto Body Repairs at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic, which he completed successfully, she then bought him equipment so he could start a landscaping business. The equipment remained unused.
He also has CXC English Language from his secondary school and all indications were that King could have done better.
According to the presentencing report, King also felt he had “let his family down” by his behaviour. He accepted full responsibility for his actions and attributed it to his drug use and negative influences.
As he stood in the dock before Justice Jacqueline Cornelius in the No. 5 Supreme Court, King apologized for committing