• Latest
Grenada Court Rules Against Liquidator

Life Sentence for Dave Benjamin of St David

4 years ago

NAWASA on water supply: Tropical Storm warning

5 hours ago
Tropical Weather Outlook: Monday, 27 June 2022 (8 pm)

Tropical Weather Outlook: Monday, 27 June 2022 (8 pm)

6 hours ago
RGPF Reports 77% detection for 2014

Transmitting false information violates Electronic Crimes Act

6 hours ago
National Cleanup Begins Friday

Grenada under Tropical Storm Warning

7 hours ago
NHC: Key messages for Tropical Cyclone 2

NHC: Key messages for Tropical Cyclone 2

8 hours ago
Vacancy: Plant Engineer

Vacancy: Brand Manager

9 hours ago
Government of Mexico announces scholarships for OECS Nationals

Government of Mexico announces scholarships for OECS Nationals

10 hours ago

Notice on water supply due to tropical wave

10 hours ago
Tropical Weather Outlook: Monday, 27 June 2022 (2 pm)

Tropical Weather Outlook: Monday, 27 June 2022 (2 pm)

10 hours ago

Weather Bulletin: Monday, 27 June 2 am

20 hours ago
Tropical Storm Chantal

Forecasters monitoring a strong second Tropical Wave 

1 day ago

Weather Bulletin: Sunday, 26 June 2 pm

1 day ago
NOW Grenada
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
NOW Grenada
No Result
View All Result

Life Sentence for Dave Benjamin of St David

This story was posted 4 years ago
19 January 2018
in General News
2 min. read
Share

Convicted 29-year-old Dave Benjamin of St David, has been slapped with a life sentence for the Sunday, 24 January 2016 murder of 39-year-old Jessica Colker.

Benjamin appeared at the #2 High Court on Wednesday 17, and Thursday 18 January 2018, where he faced Justice Paula Gilford. Additional information and evidence regarding whether or not Colker was raped by the convicted man surfaced, and both medical doctors who examined the body were called in to shed light on their findings once again.

Upon hearing their testimonies, and reviewing the Social Inquiry Report thoroughly, Justice Gilford concluded that the evidence did, in fact, prove that Benjamin raped Colker. It was brought to the court’s attention that Benjamin is no stranger to the justice system. 2 months before Colker’s death, he was released from Her Majesty’s Prisons after spending 7 years for rape.

Benjamin’s lawyer, Andre Thomas, pleaded profusely on behalf of his client for leniency from the learned judge. However, after numerous comparisons of similar cases, and what can be described as an emotionless apology to the husband of the deceased and the court, Justice Gilford stated that Benjamin displays no level of remorse. She referred to his crime and disposition as ‘perverted and sadistic.’ She added too that the aggravation factors of the case outweighed the mitigating factors, as she looked closely at the reports of the crime. Justice Gilford stated that there was a total disregard for human life on the part of Benjamin, and considered his crime as ‘sexualised and brutal.’

At one point the convicted man was given the opportunity to review the photos of Colker’s deceased body, and still he showed no emotion. Hence, she was even more convinced that he was not remorseful for his actions.

Despite the 2 years Benjamin spent on remand and numerous examples put forth by Benjamin’s lawyer, Justice Gilford stated that there was no way she could take these into consideration when casting her sentence. Therefore, in addition to the life-sentence to be served, Benjamin is required to undergo counselling and therapy and psychological assessment.

Senior Crown Council attached to the office of Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Howard Pinnock, in an interview considered the case as historic, as “there was a dispute on the facts between the prosecution and the defence.” According to him, the DNA evidence alone could not have convicted Benjamin, but, his guilty plea was taken into consideration.

The evidence in this entire case was purely circumstantial, therefore the prosecution was taken with providing adequate and accurate evidence. The prosecution team was indeed satisfied with the verdict. However, Benjamin’s lawyer stated to the media that the sentence was, in fact, excessive, and assured that there will be an appeal.

Also present at the court was Benjamin’s father, who sternly stated to the media that he had no comment.

NOW Grenada is not responsible for the opinions, statements or media content presented by contributors. In case of abuse, click here to report.
Tags: dave benjamindonella hostenjessica colkermurder
Next Post
Pure Grenada Rated Among Top Southern Caribbean Cruise Destination

Updated 2017/18 Winter Cruise Ship Schedule

Comment on post Cancel reply

Please enter your valid email address.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

[bsa_pro_ad_space id=9 crop=”no” max_width=300]

© NOW Grenada. All Rights Reserved. Published by Aqua Design Inc. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Copyright NOW Grenada

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.