Twice-convicted murderer Gabriel Shando Hayde may not be eligible for release from Dodds Prison until the year 2086, after another life sentence was imposed on him.
On Friday, Justice Carlisle Greaves sentenced the Colleton Tenantry, St John resident to life imprisonment for the slaying of Roger Moore, setting a 40-year tariff. This sentence is to commence almost midway through his current sentence for another murder committed five months earlier, meaning Hayde must serve 60 years at Dodds before he can be considered for parole.
Hayde was convicted by a jury earlier this year in the No. 3 Supreme Court for the murder of Moore, formerly of Bath Land, on August 18, 2020.
Last month, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the No. 4 Supreme Court and given a tariff of 48 years for the shooting death of Kerwin Howell of Gall Hill, also in St John, on February 16, 2020. After deductions, he was left with 43 years of imprisonment.
The court heard that Moore and another man were carrying out carpentry at a shop in Bath Land, St John, as the shopkeeper sat nearby on the verandah of the attached house with a grandchild. While Moore began to pack up, a white car reversed down the gap and two masked men, each armed with a firearm, got out and shot him. He died at the scene still clutching the drilling machine, and the two men got back into the car and sped away.
The court was told that Hayde was arrested in the bedroom of a house in St John two months later. Found within was one of the firearms that matched a spent cartridge at the scene. It was fitted with a bump stop, allowing it to be converted from a semi-automatic pistol to an automatic firearm and had an extended magazine. Videos and WhatsApp messages were also recovered from Hayde’s phone, showing him with a firearm similar to that used.
“This defendant brazenly armed himself with a firearm accompanied by another person also with another firearm, masked themselves to avoid detection, shifted another person at the scene, thereby demonstrating he had a specific target in mind and together put three shots into the body of Mr Moore and even after he hit the ground, one of them went over him and further ensured his death by putting a shot into his head… All of this was committed by a shop of which the public has access and in the presence of other civilians. Furthermore, this was a man that the now convicted man admitted that he had shot before, but the case had been discontinued. In the circumstances, this case attracts a life sentence,” Justice Greaves said during the sentencing hearing.
Citing several murder cases in which persons were given whole-life sentences, Justice Greaves noted that Hayde had no long history of committing such offences and had no previous convictions before the two murders, which were six months apart.
“In the circumstances, I am not convinced that a whole life sentence is the correct sentence at this time,” he said.
In deciding for a life sentence with a tariff of 40 years, Justice Greaves made an upward adjustment of five years due to the offender’s concealment of his identity, his modification of the firearm, his boasts on WhatsApp, and that the offence was Hayde’s third shooting and second murder in a short period. His five years on remand were deducted.
Commending both the prosecution and defence attorneys for their research and submissions in what was the first case of its kind in this jurisdiction — where a person already serving a life sentence for murder was being sentenced for another — Justice Greaves outlined his consideration of whether the 40-year tariff should run concurrently or consecutively with the previously imposed tariff.
He concluded that the tariff should begin partway through the first sentence, underscoring the gravity of repeat violent offences.
Justice Greaves said: “This will bring to the attention of this offender and those who choose to arm themselves with firearms that they will pay a heavy penalty consecutively for every murder they are convicted for. In short, Mr Hayde now faces life in prison with a minimum of 60 years before eligibility for release. It may be noted that this brings the sentence in line with the kind of sentences we are likely to see with the new 2023 amendments to the Firearms Act, which provide for consecutive sentences for the use of firearms to commit murder.”
“Gabriel Hayde is sentenced to life imprisonment commencing from today and must serve at least 40 years commencing after he has served 20 years of his current 43-year minimum sentence, if that conviction stands affirmed, or if otherwise, it is 40 years to be counted as if commencing from today. To remove all doubt, Mr Hayde, you are now required to serve therefore 60 years combined before eligibility for release if both of your convictions remain affirmed, or 40 years for this matter if your previous conviction fails.”
Hayde, who gave no visible reaction to the sentence, waved to his family members who watched the proceedings from the gallery as he was led from the dock under the custody of several prison officers.
Acting Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Krystal Delaney and Acting Senior State Counsel Anastacia McMeo-Boyce prosecuted the matter, while defence attorneys Safiya Moore and Michael Rivera represented Hayde.
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