Two cousins were sentenced in Magistrates’ Court after admitting robbing a Canadian tourist, leaving him with cuts to both arms.

Jermaine Usher, 20, of Pembroke and Almir Waldron, 18, of St George’s, pleaded guilty to using force to rob tourist Ryan Emms.

While Waldron pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity, Usher denied the offence until part way through his trial.

The court had heard that Mr Emms was riding a rented scooter along North Shore Road, Hamilton Parish around 3pm on July 7 when he was approached by two men on a motorcycle.

The riders attempted to grab a black knapsack from Mr Emms’ cycle but the handlebars of the vehicles became intertwined and all three men fell to the ground.

Waldron left the area on the motorcycle. Usher grabbed Mr Emms’ backpack, containing $120, snorkelling gear, towels and a camera, and fled on foot.

Officers investigating the incident found Waldron’s cell phone at the scene and subsequently arrested both the defendants.

Crown counsel Auralee Cassidy argued the cousins should be sentenced to immediate custodial sentences.

Lawyer Charles Richardson described Waldron as an intelligent student who made a stupid mistake, saying that he pleaded guilty at the first possible opportunity and had been co-operative.

Regarding Usher, Mr Richardson said that despite maintaining his innocence until his trial was already well underway, the defendant still deserves some degree of credit for changing his plea.

Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner said that the fact the pair had targeted and injured a visitor should be considered an aggravating factor, and that anyone who commits such an offence should expect an immediate custodial sentence.

However, Mr Warner said that Waldron’s youth, lack of previous convictions, early guilty plea and cooperation amounted to exceptional circumstances.

He sentenced the teenager to three months of corrective training, suspended for two years, and two years of probation.

But Mr Warner said Usher was not entitled to a substantial discount, saying he was old enough to know better and was the likely ringleader.

“He is the cousin of Waldron and if not under duty, should have ben in a position to guide Waldron away from these endeavours that they got up to,” Mr Warner said.

“It would seem that he is the one who was bent on stealing the [bag] in that the evidence is that even after the tourist went down, he still received the bad and ran away with it.”

Mr Warner jailed Usher for three months. He ordered the sentence to be followed by two years of probation.