Deportee from Canada loses appeal for lighter sentence

The man who travelled to Canada last year, using a fraudulently obtained passport in the name of a dead man, earlier this week had an appeal he made before the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal denied.{{more}}

Appearing before Justices of Appeal Don Mitchell and Louise Blenman on Monday, Mark John Dublin said that the sentence he was given was too harsh.

The Justices however upheld the sentence of three years in prison, imposed by Chief Magistrate Sonya Young in May.

Dublin was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to giving Gwendolyn Burgin, deputy supervisor of elections, a birth certificate in the name of Franco Roberts (deceased), a document which he knew or believed to be false, intended to cause Burgin to issue an SVG identification card on December 20, 2011.

He was also charged with defrauding Gwendolyn Burgin by falsely representing himself to be Franco Roberts, someone other than Mark John Dublin, at Kingstown on December 20, 2011.

Dublin was charged with presenting Kendra Matthias, a person employed in the public service, a birth certificate in the name of Franco Roberts, a document he knew or believed to be false, intending to cause Matthias to issue an SVG passport, on December 22, 2011.

Dublin was further charged with defrauding Matthias by falsely representing himself to be Franco Roberts of Diamond, someone other than Mark John Dublin on December 22, 2011, at Kingstown.

Crown counsel in the office of the Director of Public Prosecution Colin John argued that the chief magistrate had acted within her powers when she sentenced John Dublin to a term of three years.

John said the learned magistrate took into consideration the mitigating and aggravating factors.

“The magistrate took into consideration, that he was young and that he pleaded guilty to the charges. For the aggravating factors, she looked at the fact that he impersonated a dead man …,” John submitted.

John further added that Dublin had damaged the relationship between St Vincent and the Grenadines and Canada, noting that he had a total disregard for the laws of both countries.

Dublin was deported from Canada on May 9, 2012 after travelling there using a fraudulently obtained passport, in the name of Franco Roberts, who died in 2007.

Just last week, the Canadian government revoked the visa exemption for entry to that country which Vincentians had enjoyed.

A release from Citizen and Immigration Canada stated that “a key reason why the Government has imposed visa requirements on St Lucia and St Vincent is unreliable travel documents …”

This claim has, however, been contested by this country’s government.(KW)