A man who admitted stealing more than $100,000 during a burglary got a shorter sentence because he helped convict the Cooper twins' murderers.

When asked by a prosecutor to treat Devario Whitter more leniently due to his assistance in solving the unrelated crime, Judge Norma Wade-Miller said this would be an "almost precedent-setting" move — especially since Whitter is unremorseful about the burglary.

However, acceding to the request at Supreme Court, she told Whitter he will serve 18 months in jail instead of three to five years due to his testimony, "without which the authorities would not have secured a conviction in one of the most horrid murders Bermuda has ever seen".

Whitter, 24, admitted earlier this year to breaking into the Roberts Avenue, Pembroke, home of Nelli Lima on March 1, 2005 by using a crow bar to force the door. Co-accused Antonio Myers also pleaded guilty.

Once inside the home, they took a bag containing a large amount of money — around $100,000 according to the defence and $150,000 according to the prosecution — belonging to Ms Lima and her boyfriend Tarfari Outerbridge.

Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney told the court that Myers, 21, admitted the crime after being arrested in May 2005, saying it was committed with Whitter and another person not before the courts.

Myers, of Rambling Lane, Devonshire, told Police he kept between $25,000 and $30,000 which he spent on items including sneakers and a trip to Jamaica. In a raid at Whitter's home in Curving Avenue, Pembroke, Police found more than $16,000. He later admitted to receiving $20,000 from the crime.

The court heard from Police records that Myers has previous convictions dating back to 2001 for theft, cannabis possession, possession of a knife, and breaking and entering. Whitter has convictions dating back to 2000 for theft, assault, possession of a machete and violently resisting arrest.

In a statement to the court about the impact of the burglary, Ms Lima said it left her traumatised. Mr. Outerbridge said he felt "totally humiliated".

Mr. Mahoney said the maximum sentence the pair could be handed was seven years, but they should be given credit for pleading guilty, and Whitter extra credit for being a key witness in the Cooper twins' case.

Whitter gave evidence to Supreme Court last January that he was with killers Kenneth Burgess and Dennis Robinson and his twin cousins Jahmil Declay Cooper and Jahmal Deshawn Cooper on March 13, 2005 — the night the twins were bludgeoned to death. The murders occurred less than a fortnight before Whitter and Myers carried out the burglary at Ms Lima's house. Burgess and Robinson received life sentences.

"He gave evidence when all the other witnesses backed away," said Mr. Mahoney of Whitter's role in the murder trial, adding that no conviction would have been secured without it. He went on to tell the judge that sentencing guidelines allow credit to be given to criminals who help prosecuting authorities in other cases.

Elizabeth Christopher, defending Myers, said her client has been out of trouble in recent times. Claiming that Ms Lima and Mr. Outerbridge were drug dealers at the time of the burglary, Ms Christopher added that her client's motivation for the theft was that "he was short-changed in connection with a drug deal" and the theft meant "that a great deal of money that would otherwise be used to fund the drug trade" was taken out of circulation.

Whitter, who was not represented by a lawyer, told the court his mother died when he was ten and his father moved abroad, leaving him to provide for himself. In an apparent reference to Mr. Outerbridge, he said: "With the guy, he done wrong himself, like the badness came back to him. I don't have any remorse for him. For the girl, I do feel remorse because it's her house."

In addition to the sentence meted out to Whitter — which will be followed by one year of probation — Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller told Myers he must serve two years in prison with 18 months of probation.