Tobago businessman jailed for sex offence

A popular Tobago businessman was on Thursday  jailed for seven years with hard labour after he was convicted of grievous sexual assault.

Keith Alexander, also known as “Hammer,” of Sou Sou Lands, New Grange, was sentenced by Justice Rajendra Narine in the Tobago Assizes. Alexander, represented by defence attorney Larry Williams, was before the court charged with the rape of the then 21-year-old victim at the back of Crown Point Airport on June 29, 2001. He was charged by Detective Alicia Piggott, of the Scarborough CID, who was then attached to the Crown Point Police Station. The nine-member jury found Alexander not guilty of rape, but returned a guilty verdict on the lesser count of grievous sexual assault.

The court heard that the victim told Alexander that she had to go to the airport to see her boyfriend off as he was travelling abroad. Alexander took her to the airport; after her boyfriend had checked in, he (Alexander) told the young woman that he could take her to a place where she could actually see the plane take off. She accepted the offer and Alexander took her along Lighthouse Road in a desolate area where he allegedly committed the offence, the court was told.