Prolific Burglar Jailed, Plans To ‘Seek The Spirit’
Neville Woods — who has been described as a prolific burglar with a criminal career spanning some 25 years — was sentenced to 4.5 years in jail, and told the Court he has been reading the Bible and determined that he “needs to seek the Spirit and not the flesh.”
Justice Charles-Etta Simmons handed down the sentence yesterday [Feb 6] after reviewing a Social Inquiry Report and a Bermuda Assessment Referral Centre report.
Woods, 44, had originally been convicted in the Magistrates Court. However, Senior Magistrate Archie Warner had determined that given the evidence, admission of guilt, and Woods’ long criminal record, the five year maximum that the lower Court could impose was too light a sentence. Magistrate Warner therefore remanded Woods to the Supreme Court for sentencing.
Questioning Woods, Justice Simmons asked if he was prepared to accept a rigorous probation order. He agreed to do so and she then set out these conditions:
- Must commit no further offences
- Must appear when ordered
- Must notify of any change of address or occupation
- Must not leave Bermuda without the Court’s permission
- Must submit to drug tests
- Must attend any programs stipulated by the Probation Officer
- Must live in an approved residential program
- Must not associate with people involved in drugs or illegal activity
- Must wear an Electronic Monitoring Device.
This probation order was to last three years. commencing from the date of his release.
On the four counts on which he had been convicted, Justice Simmons then sentenced Woods to four and half years in jail on each count, with the four sentences to run concurrently. This was to be followed by three years probation with the conditions as set out.
Justice Simmons ordered that during Woods’s incarceration, the Commissioner of Prisons was to enrol Woods in a substance abuse program. She also ordered that on release, Woods was to be released into the custody of Probation Services.
In a final statement from the dock, Woods said that he been reading the Bible and had determined that: “I need to seek the Spirit and not the flesh.”
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yeah right turning to God!!! this thief broke into my tenants apt and my house 30 years ago and he is still doing this he needs to be put away for life
Ok so he was sent to Supreme Court because Magistrates Court thought the 5 year max would not be adequet given his extensive record and then he was sentenced to 4.5 years, hmmmm am I missing something here? Why even go through all that if he still received below the MC max.
So this guy gets 8 years in 2009, is out in 3-4 years, reoffends and gets only 4.5 years … if he gets out in half it would be way less than his 2009 sentance irrespective of this latest crime.
Wake up OBA and Governer…SORT OUT THIS FAILED system…The PUBLIC need protecting….three strikes and goodbye. Grow some guts judges…lock them up for good and make them work on armed guard public detail for the rest of their lives to repay society. He will steal again…next time I hope its from that pathetic judge!
God: The all time biggest excuse for bad behaviour.
And the really scary part is that most of our Magistrates fall for that garbage.
Many People are glad to get rid of him.
Neville Woods has a good Marriage with the Westgate Corrections facility – he loves it.
ther only Spirit he would be seeking comes in a bottle.
Neville really only ever learned one trade .
Or he likes D#$% from his boys in WestGate Hotel.
Just how does ‘finding the Lord’ make a career home invasion terrorist, a better person?? Since when has religion been the benchmark for honesty, peace and harmony? Lotta talk but dont make you a decent person anymore than finding a garage makes you a car.
Maybe he should have broken in to the right house where he received a good old fashioned licking and then had a few of his fingers taken off. The court system has to get real with people like this. The sentence they were given is to be served in full. He has been sentenced before, doesn’t do the full sentence and in a short space of time is doing the same thing. One problem this time at court is the magistrate bought into his ‘finding god last ditch effort to save my ass excuse’. He’ll be back at it when he gets out, and this will probably be before the full time is done and wwhen he gets caught again will tell the magistrate that god wasn’t in prison with him, because he tried to look for him and he wasn’t there.
Take the dame hand right off!!!! He has been doing this sh\t to long