Describing Jon-Erik Kei Grason Thomas’ actions as selfish and self-centred, Madam Justice Pamela Beckles sentenced him to four years in prison for giving his unsuspecting girlfriend a drug to cause a miscarriage.
Thomas, a senior compliance officer, had initially pleaded not guilty to the offence. However, he later admitted that on April 2, 2019, he administered the noxious substance, misoprostol, to the woman, with intent to cause a miscarriage, an offence under the Offences Against the Person Act.
“This case is tragic and has arisen due to your selfish behaviour and your self-centeredness. It was all about you, with no consideration whatsoever for the complainant. You thought of no one else but yourself. Your culpability in this matter and the harm that you have caused cannot be overstated or denied,” the judge said while delivering her ruling in the No. 5 Supreme Court on Thursday.
Calling the case “very foreign to our culture”, Justice Beckles listed the aggravating features as the nature and gravity of the offence; the intimate nature of the parties; the high degree of planning that went into the commission of the offence, including researching the drug, sourcing and delivering it and attempting to dispose of the packaging; the potential risk to the life of the complainant; and its effect on her.
No mitigating factors were identified regarding the offence.
Justice Beckles said the matter was so serious that only a custodial sentence would suffice.
Her starting point for sentencing was eight years behind bars. Considering Thomas’ cooperation with police, acceptance of responsibility for his actions, favourable pre-sentence report and the testimony of character witnesses, she gave a two-year deduction along with a one-third discount for his early guilty plea.
The court previously heard that Thomas and the complainant were in a relationship from 2018 to January 2019. In February 2019, it was confirmed by a doctor that she was five weeks pregnant.
On April 2, 2019, while at the woman’s home where they were watching a movie, Thomas crushed four misoprostol pills and put them inside some juice he gave her to drink.
When she awoke the next morning and was bleeding, she told Thomas she believed she was having a miscarriage, and he responded, “Maybe” before getting ready for work and leaving.
The woman then went to the doctor and was told, among other things, that she would have to wait until the bleeding stopped.
When she returned home, she searched the garbage Thomas had taken out, and discovered a Ziplock bag with a piece of tablet. She had earlier discovered white residue at the bottom of the cup she had used the night before.
She kept the items and took them to the police after her pregnancy had to be terminated at five months due to the “non-viability of the foetus”.
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