Defence slams family over teen’s blistering report against dad

Attorney-at-law Diane Jobson on Tuesday fiercely criticised Simone Campbell-Collymore’s family for the devastating report written by Omar Collymore’s daughter blaming him for killing her mom because of selfishness and wishing him a life of misery.

In a victim impact report read in court, the 14-year-old, who is one of two children for the couple, accused her father of robbing the family of their “rock” – her mother – and the “amazing life” that she, the daughter, had.

“My last name isn’t even my last name. I hope you listen to this, have a bitter feeling in your heart, and go to sleep thinking about what you have caused your children to go through these past six years and what kind of father you are,” the teen wrote.

Campbell-Collymore and cab driver Winston Walters were killed on January 2, 2018, when men rode up on motorcycles and sprayed them with bullets as they waited to be let inside her Forest Ridge apartment complex in Red Hills, St Andrew.

The 32-year-old mother of two was shot 19 times, while the taxi driver, 36, was shot five times.

Collymore, 41, a United States businessman; contract killer Michael Adams, 33, tailor and salesman, and Dwayne Pink, 34, construction worker were found guilty of the murders of both victims as well as conspiracy to murder on May 15, following a four-month long trial.

A fourth defendant, Shaquilla Edwards, 27, a marketer, was however only convicted of murder conspiracy.

On Tuesday, during her plea in mitigation, Jobson accused the family of “kicking a man when he is down”.

She argued that the teenager was influenced by her grandparents to speak ill of her father.

“From day one, those parents accused him without any evidence at all. They accused Mr Collymore at the police station of being responsible for the death of Mrs Collymore and there has been no communication at all with Mr Collymore, and these children would be under the influence of their grand[parents], who have a totally negative view of their father and this is obvious,” she said.

Justice Leighton Pusey, however, reminded the attorney that the evidence in the case has found her client guilty of his wife’s murder, and though their suspicions may be wrong at the beginning, the evidence has given them some foundation.

‘DOESN’T HELP YOUR CASE’

“It really doesn’t help your case one way or another to attack the victim impact statement of a young lady who has lost her mother and feels bad towards her father,” he further advised.

Noting that the victim impact statement is just part of the process and is not necessarily one of the factors in the sentencing calculation, the judge urged her to “move way from beating upon the little girl”.

Jobson submitted that her client was a devoted and attentive father, whose consideration of his children was always foremost in his mind.

Noting, that the pre-remand sentence was the only mitigating factor that the prosecution had identified, she urged the judge to consider Collymore’s role as a father as a mitigating factor.

She said he was always caring for his children, and on days when the family went out for recreation, he would be the one at home with the children.

She also asked the judge to consider the sacrifice that Collymore made for his wife in agreeing to leave his successful life in the United States behind and relocate to Jamaica.

Jobson added that her client has suffered, including loss of finances, freedom, and children, and that his greatest loss is the love of his children.

NOT BEYOND REDEMPTION

The attorney urged the judge to accept that Collymore is not beyond redemption, urging him not to be influenced by the emotional appeal of the victims.

Acting Senior Director of Public Prosecutions Andrea Martin Swaby last Tuesday asked that both Collymore and Adams be sentenced to life in prison for each of the murders, with the men serving 46 and a half years in prison before parole eligibility in respect to Campbell-Collymore’s murder and 48 and a half years for Walters’ murder.

She, however, recommended a slightly lower sentence for Pink based on the minimal role he played in the murder plot.

Martin Swaby also asked that he be sentenced to life in prison for both murders but that he serve 41 and a half years before being eligible for parole for Campbell-Collymore’s murder and 43 and a half years for the other murder.

Pertaining to Edwards, she recommended six and a half years, but the judge told her, she could only propose three and a half years as the maximum sentence is 10 years and the convict has already served six and a half years in prison.

Martin Swaby, in asking for the lengthy sentences, asked the judge to treat the case as one of the “worst of the worst”, proposing a starting point of 45 years for Collymore and Adams, and 40 years for Pink.

On Tuesday, Jobson and Pink’s lawyer, Earnest Davis, asked the judge to use the minimum starting point of 15 years.

Jobson argued that her client should not be given a higher starting point than the shooter Dwayne Wade, who was given a 35-year sentence for each of the murders and eight years for the gun he used in the killings.

Davis asked the judge to consider that his client was not the instigator or triggerman and that he was not present at the murder scene.

He also asked the judge to consider his client’s medical condition, which the court is to verify.

Davis also told the judge that Pink is a good prospect for rehabilitation.

The other two convicts’ lawyer made their submission last week.

Adams’ lawyer, Sanjay Smith, had asked the court to depart from the Crown’s starting point and instead begin at 30 and 35 years, while begging for mercy for his client.

Attorney-at-law Gnoj McDonald asked the court to treat her client, Edwards, as an individual and to impose a sentence that would not be crushing.

The trial heard that Collymore hired Adams to facilitate the murder of his wife and that Edwards and Pink allegedly played a role in surveilling the businesswoman’s movements before her death.

Collymore’s motive was to benefit from his wife’s $100-million life insurance policy, the court heard.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com