A Sandys man jailed for attempting to steal a phone has lost an appeal against his sentence.

Keino Lambert, 25, was convicted for the offence last June after a Magistrates’ Court trial.

The court heard that on January 15, 2014, he attempted to steal a black iPhone from a passenger on a bus. At the time, he was on probation for unlawful assault.

Magistrate Archibald Warner sentenced Lambert to 12 months in prison, but Lambert appealed that sentence, with defence lawyer Arion Mapp arguing that a Social Inquiry Report should have been ordered and that the period of imprisonment should have been suspended.

In an extempore judgment delivered on March 30, Chief Justice Ian Kawaley noted that Lambert had previously received non-custodial sentences including periods of probation and community service orders.

“This was not a first-time offender for whom the court would have a heightened need to scrutinise the non-custodial options,” he said.

“Instead, this was an admittedly young man who had been given chances in the past and had apparently not used them as well as he should.”

Mr Mapp argued that a Social Inquiry Report would have been helpful because Lambert’s personal circumstances had changed between the date of the offence and the sentence, but Dr Justice Kawaley said the argument was undercut by the fact that a week after he was sentenced for this offence, he pleaded guilty to an assault that took place on Christmas Day 2014.

“That matter is significant because it means that this court cannot properly give credence to the idea that there would have been a powerful case for saying that the appellant’s circumstances had changed materially between the date of his offence in January 2014 and the date of his sentence 18 months later,” the Chief Justice wrote.

“Only seven months before his sentence he had committed yet another offence of violence.

“And so in these circumstances it is impossible to say that the magistrate imposed a sentence which was wrong in principle or was in general terms harsh and excessive.”

In addition to the prison sentences, Dr Justice Kawaley noted that Lambert was sentenced to 24 months’ probation, a move that he said would help to move the appellant in the right direction if he wishes to stay away from the criminal courts.

He dismissed the appeal, adding: “I can only hope that the appellant will have the strength to be able to take advantage of the support he receives upon his release.”

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