those who commit armed robbery, sentencing bank robber Kirk Mundy to 16 years in prison and one of his two accomplices, Omar Amory, to four years.

Senior Crown Counsel Brian Calhoun told Chief Justice Austin Ward: "There is a very serious problem in this country with armed robbery, and it's growing in intensity and it's growing in frequency.'' Deterrent cases, especially in cases involving firearms, must be passed if the problem is going to be curtailed, he urged the court.

Mundy, a 22-year-old Jamaican national, is already serving five years in prison after pleading guilty to being an accessory to murder after the fact in the slaying of Canadian teenager Rebecca Middleton last July. Mundy was out on bail for the armed robbery at the time of her murder.

He and Amory, 24, of Somerset, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to taking part in the November 10, 1995, robbery of Bank of Butterfield security van. The third accomplice, Harron Evans, has pleaded not guilty; Mundy and Amory have agreed to testify at his trial.

In an unchallenged summary of evidence, the Crown contended that during October and early November, 1995, Evans and Mundy solicited the cooperation of Amory to help with the heist.

Amory was employed by the bank as a security officer at the time and operated the vehicles used to transfer money to ATM's and banks throughout the Island.

He agreed to the plan and provided inside information and "passive compliance'' during the robbery, said Mr. Calhoun.

Evans, armed with a handgun, and Mundy carrying a wooden imitation machine gun, approached the van carrying Amory and a co-worker, Ms Mary Simmons, outside the Mermaid Beach Hotel on South Road, Warwick, and demanded they surrender all property. The two men then escaped on motorbike with more than $40,000, electronic equipment, and some keys.

In handing down his sentence Mr. Justice Ward told Mundy and Amory he had considered all mitigating circumstances, including respective pleas of guilty, and cooperation with the Police and courts.

"But I must also consider the gravity of the circumstances,'' he said, as well as the impact these types of crimes are having on Bermuda's international image.

Amory, who was charged with one count of stealing, was sentenced to four years. Mundy was sentenced to ten years for one charge of robbery and ten years for one charge of carrying an imitation firearm with criminal intent.

On the second charge Mr. Justice Ward ruled Mundy would serve six years consecutive to the first term of ten years -- for a total of 16 years -- with the sentence to follow his current term of imprisonment.

Kirk Mundy