ONE of a gang of three masked, baseball-bat-wielding burglars, who terrorised a family as they stole their possessions, has been jailed for four years.
The Superior Number of the Royal Court – which convenes for the most serious cases – yesterday heard that 22-year-old Asemahle Aubrey Junior Mufwinda and two other men were all involved in the break-in at a bedsit in Don Road, which happened in August 2023.
Mufwinda was caught and arrested five days later, but the other two reportedly involved have not been brought to justice.
Crown Advocate Adam Harrison, prosecuting, said the victims in the bedsit – a man and his young children – were woken at around 3am by the sound of their door being smashed open.
Three men in balaclavas and brandishing baseball bats entered, saying they wanted payment for drugs owed by the man’s brother, an inmate serving time in La Moye Prison.
They took a TV set, an iPhone, a PlayStation and some cash. On the way out one of the gang smashed a bathroom unit with his baseball bat.
Crown Advocate Harrison said that, aside from the loss of valuable belongings, the events had had a psychological impact on the victims.
“He had to leave the bedsit, as he no longer felt safe there and his children didn’t want to visit,” the lawyer told the court.
He added that in a separate incident, on 20 April last year, Mufwinda smashed a window at the Seafish Café and attempted to punch a doorman at Vittoria nightclub.
The Crown Advocate said Mufwinda had a previous conviction for common assault, and was deemed at high risk of reoffending and at medium risk of harm to the public. He recommended a jail sentence of four and a half years.
Advocate Chris Baglin, defending, pointed out that Mufwinda was still young, and had celebrated his 21st birthday on the day of the break-in.
He highlighted that his client had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had already spent 111 days in custody – the equivalent of just over five months with the discount for a guilty plea.
And Advocate Baglin said: “The court is well aware of the foolishness of young men, the situations they get themselves into, and the way they react when they get into them. He appears to be ashamed that he has harmed another family.”
He argued that the prosecution’s suggested sentence was too high, saying: “He is suitable for community service. He has a good work record.”
But the Jurats decided the mitigation was not enough to spare Mufwinda a custodial sentence.
Commissioner Sir Michael Birt said: “This must have been a really terrifying incident.”
As well as the jail sentence Mufwinda was ordered to pay £1,000 to the man he burgled and £750 to the Seafish Café for the broken window.
He must pay both sums within a year of his release from prison.
Jurats Dulake, Austin-Vautier, Opfermann, Berry and Ramsden were sitting.
