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Declon “Bage” Glasgow is escorted back to prison to complete his sentence. (IWN photo)
Declon “Bage” Glasgow is escorted back to prison to complete his sentence. (IWN photo)
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A South Rivers man has been jailed for a further nine years and nine months for the Boxing Day 2015 shooting death of another resident of the North Central Windward Community.

Declon “Bage” Glasgow, 38, was also sentenced to a further five years and nine months in prison for possession of an unlicensed firearm with intent.

The man was sentenced to 13 years for the killing. He had spent three years, two months, and eight days on remand, which will be deducted from the sentences, which will run concurrently.

Glasgow could have received a life sentence (30 years in prison) for the killing and 20 years for the firearm offence. 

Justice Bryan Cottle handed down the sentence at the High Court in Kingstown on Friday, the last sitting before the court vacation, which runs until mid-September.

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Glasgow was initially charged with the murder of O’Jarvi “Rat” Hooper, 20, but a jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter, by reason of provocation.

The facts of the case are that on Dec. 26, 2015, the people of South Rivers were enjoying their annual Boxing Day Dance, at the Africana Disco.

The event was organised in such a way that the afternoon segment catered for children, with a later session for adults.

Hooper and Glasgow had a history of bad blood and both attended the event, with Glasgow arriving earlier with three friends.

Hooper arrived sometime after and Glasgow left the disco and went outside because he felt comfortable after Hooper had walked between him and some people.

The two men were armed.

Around 9 p.m., Hooper also exited the disco and a scuffle ensued between him and Glasgow, during which Hooper discharged several rounds, injuring Glasgow slightly, before running off.

As Hooper fled, Glasgow discharged several rounds one of which caught Hooper in the back.

Hooper was able to make it to the home of his father, who took him to the Georgetown Hospital in a vehicle.

Hooper died on the way and was pronounced dead on arrival.

After the shooting, Glasgow hid in the hills for several days, where he subsisted on fruits.

He was able to make his way into Kingstown, from where he took a ferry to Union Island, before travelling to Grenada, never bothering with immigration formalities.

Glasgow was brought back to St. Vincent some four months later, where he was slapped with the charges. 

In mitigation, Glasgow’s lawyer, Stephen Williams, told the court that the evidence adduced during the trial was that Hooper threatened his client on the morning of the incident, telling him, “Doh worry, we go deal with you later.”

He said that on a previous occasion, his client had to seek refuge in a house because Hooper and others were pursuing him. 

The lawyer said Glasgow had made several reports to police in Colonarie and even in Kingstown, when he felt that police in the out district were not acting fast enough.

The reports included an assault that Hooper had perpetrated upon Glasgow, during which he stole a gold chain, the lawyer said.

Williams said that witnesses in the trial testified that Hooper was in the habit of walking into shops in the community and placing a gun on the table.

“He was a known gunman in the area,” the lawyer said.

He told the court that Hooper may very well have been the architect of his demise and Glasgow took all reasonable steps to avoid the confrontation.

The lawyer said his client is the last of his mother’s seven children and dropped out of school in Barbados at Form 5.

He is the father of two sons, ages 17 and 13, and a 10-year-old daughter.

Before the incident, Glasgow worked as a landscaper and a mason and assisted his family in the trade in agricultural goods to Barbados.

Williams called Luenda Samuel, a character witness, who told the court she has known Glasgow for over 30 years and he is not someone who would interfere with people first.

In handing down the sentence, Justice Cottle said the aggravating features of the case include the use of an unlicensed firearm, which has not been recovered, and which Glasgow carried to a crowded public place, where children were present.

He said that the man has shown no remorse for his action and maintained that he did not shoot Hooper but offered no explanation as to how the man was shot and killed.

The mitigating features of the case, Justice Cottle said, are that Glasgow shot Hooper while reacting to an assault by Hooper, who also used a gun.

He said that the jury accepted that Hooper was no paragon of virtue and this was a powerful mitigating feature, but the court has to send a message that retaliatory acts will not be tolerated.

3 replies on “Man gets 13 years for Boxing Day shooting death”

  1. Rawlston Pompey says:

    RUNNING AWAY – NO MORE DANGER TO ACCUSED – ONE GUNMAN GONE

    From law enforcement knowledge, the gunman’s philosophy has always been, ‘…Kill or be killed.’

    Always better to be ‘…tried by a Jury’ than to be removed from the battle ground by an Undertaker.

    Justice Brian Cottle understood the incident quite well. If nothing else, he clearly understood that the Jury saw the deceased as no ‘…paragon of virtue.’

    The Court clearly accepted ‘…Counsel’s arguments and Plea in Mitigation,’ that the deceased may have been the ‘…architect of his demise.’

    It was obvious that both the accused and deceased expected each other to be at the function. That would have been the venue for hostile confrontation. Thus, both appeared to have armed themselves in preparation for any eventuality.

    An early warning sign may have been given when the deceased reportedly ‘…walked between the accused and some people.’

    The news report said ‘…he felt comfortable.’ Even being armed, sure like hell the accused may have felt the opposite.

    Though it is often considered ‘…aggravation to shoot an assailant who was running away,’ hot-bloodedly, that has been the ‘…natural tendency of gunmen to cut down their attackers on the run.’

    The accused was ‘…clearly in no more danger when the deceased attacked him with gunshots and ran away. Seemed that the deceased ran because he may have ‘…ran out of ammunition.’

    Unfortunately, he also ran out of luck.

    Seemingly the ‘…Jury was well directed on law; …well reasoned and summarized by Justice Cottle.

  2. This was gross unfairness by this Judge ………the decease bandit , so call badman” better suited name rat” broth this upon himself . Clearly this was someone going around terrorizing the community and law abiding citizens . clearly he learned a lot in Barbados and broth his devious ways to SVG. ……this Judge said the defendant brought a gun to family function but clearly if he didnt have a gun to defend himself he would probably have been dead and six feet under instead of the instigator . moreover the defendant got injured first by gunshots and has multiple reports previously made to the police . ……..clearly Glasgow was poorly represented by his lawyer . Self defense if not applied should have been better mitigated . Glasgow could have helped himself better by turning himself in even after hiding for a few weeks and handing in the gun plus acting remorseful even though I dont see how someone can be remorseful to someone that continually terrorized and threatened them , but this judge seems to know ……the most Glasgow should have got was time for the the gun and ammo plus five or so years added for manslaughter .

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