Man in St Vincent given lengthy prison term after forcing woman to run naked in the street

A High Court judge has sentenced a 20-year-old man to a total of 55 years in prison after he was found guilty of robbing a man and a woman in Kingstown, then abducting and raping the woman, and forcing her to run naked in the street.

Justice Rickie Burnett sentenced Bahari Dopwell to 55 years in prison for his December 15, 2019 crimes.

On the count of rape, the judge noted that the maximum penalty is life imprisonment, a notional sentence of 30 years, but established a starting point of 15 years.

As with all the other offences, the time spent on remand — one year, three months and 10 days — was deducted, leaving a sentence of 12 years, eight months and 20 days.

On the two robbery charges, he was given a prison term of 16 years, eight months and 20 days on each count, while on the charges of abduction and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, he was jailed for one year, eight months and 20 days after all factors had been taken into account.