Getaway driver in church murder gets six years

The getaway driver involved in the killing of banker Andrea Lowe-Garwood was sentenced to six years in prison for his role in the crime.

Leon Hines, 23, was sentenced to six years for illegal possession of firearm and one year for accessory after the fact to murder, when he appeared in the Home Circuit Court on Thursday. The sentences are to run concurrently.

Hines bowed his head for most of the time during the brief sentence hearing and appeared dazed after the sentence was passed.

The Rose Heights, St James, resident is among three persons charged in connection with the brazen daylight murder of Lowe-Garwood, 51, inside the Agape Christian Fellowship Church in Falmouth, Trelawny, on January 31. Javan 'Janoy' Garwood, 29, the stepson of the deceased, has been charged with murder and conspiracy to murder. Meanwhile, Dwight Bingham has been charged with murder and illegal possession of firearm.

Hines was initially served with six charges, but under a plea deal, pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to murder, murder, accessory before the fact to murder, and misprision of felony. No evidence was offered on each count by the prosecution.

But Justice Lorna Shelly Williams stressed that Hines was not being sentenced in relation to the murder at this time. She did not give any further indication as to whether he would be asked to answer to the murder charges at a later date despite securing a plea deal.

Pleaded guilty

Hines' attorney-at-law, Michael Hemmings, asked the judge to take into account that he had pleaded guilty at the first opportune time, thereby demonstrating his remorse. He also said that Hines had no previous conviction and no previous brush with the law. The attorney also asked the court to honour the conditions of the plea bargain.

According to Hines' antecedent report, he grew up in a stable family and left Cornwall College with seven Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate subjects with passes in grades one, two and three.

The court also heard that after leaving school, Hines did further studies at HEART/NSTA Trust and was successful in completing courses in systems administration and computer network engineering.