Antigua: PM’s half-brother gets 13 years for rape
TRIGGER WARNING: The following article contains information of a sensitive nature. Details include that of sexual assault against a minor. The contents of this article could be upsetting or trigger negative memories.
Less than half of the maximum sentence is what convicted rapist Addison Browne got for violating a 13-year-old girl in 2019.
Addison, the half-brother of Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, was declared guilty of rape by a 9-member jury after a trial in the High Court of Antigua and Barbuda.
In the trial held last month, it was revealed that the now 44-year-old bus driver raped the school girl in his private vehicle in broad daylight while parked under a tree.
The incident unfolded when Addison offered a ride to the girl and her aunt and also agreed to pick up the aunt’s friend on a day in April 2019.
When he reached their destination, the aunt noticed her missing phone and asked the accused to take her niece back home to get it.
And on the drive home, the minor fell asleep in the car and woke up when she realised that the vehicle had stopped.
She immediately noticed that her hands and feet were tied with rope.
The man then removed her underwear and had unprotected sex with her while she tried to fight him off.
He even ejaculated inside her.
After completing the sick act, the accused took her home and threatened to kill her and her mother if she told anyone about the ordeal.
In his defence, Addison told the court that the family was extorting him for money and made the accusations when their attempts failed.
The jury did not buy his story and instead returned a guilty verdict, offering him up to the hands of Justice Ann-Marie Smith for sentencing.
Today, Smith sentenced him to spend 13 years at Her Majesty’s Prison after beginning with a starting point of 12 years.
The offence carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment or 30 years.
But it came down to less than half of that based on the category the judge placed the offence in and the mitigating and aggravating factors she took into account.
Since being convicted of the serious crime, Prime Minister Browne has distanced himself from the deeds of his relative.
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