21-Year-Old Sentenced for Aggravated Burglary and Rape in Barbados Holiday Home Case

At just 17 years old, Lashawn Shaquon Hinds entered the rented holiday home of British visitors armed with a gun where he forced the couple to perform sexual acts while he watched, then raped the man’s wife.

“Your actions were terrifying and deplorable and the rape of the female victim represents an appalling, reprehensible act of utmost gravity,” Justice Pamela Beckles told Hinds as she imposed a starting sentence of 18 years for the aggravated burglary and 15 years for the rape offence.

But after taking several legal considerations into account, including the guilty plea, and the time already spent on remand, the now 21-year-old Hinds of Lower Carlton, St James has nine years, 260 more days to spend for the aggravated burglary, and seven years, 260 days for rape.

On July 4, 2021, Hinds entered the rented home of the married couple who were on holiday on the Island with their three-year-old son. The couple was sitting at a table on the deck around 8 pm when they were approached by a masked man holding a gun. That man was Hinds. He demanded money before telling them to perform sexual acts on each other while he watched. They did as he asked out of fear. Hinds then forced the wife to perform oral sex on him and sexually assaulted her. Eventually, Hinds demanded the couple lie beneath the bed before leaving the home. He took their cell phones worth $1 200 and a total of $1 600.

In handing down the sentence in the No 5 Supreme Court on Wednesday, Justice Beckles considered the aggravating factors of Hinds’ crimes including the preconceived plan of burglarising the visitors’ residence and the violation of the female’s body.

As part of his sentence, he must also undergo drug rehabilitation and enrol in educational programmes.

Principal State Counsel Olivia Davis and State Counsel Eleazar Williams were the prosecutors while attorney-at-law Sian Lange appeared on behalf of Hinds.

(TS)