Photo Credit: BVI Platinum News

Photo Credit: BVI Platinum News

Erwin Marquis, 25 of Hannah's Bay, who invaded the home of a couple and attacked them on Christmas Eve in 2010 was sentenced to eight years in prison. He had claimed that he was intoxicated at the time of the incident.

Yesterday, July 24, Justice Albert Redhead sentenced him to eight years in prison for aggravated burglary and two years each for two counts of indecent assault. The sentences will run concurrently.

On May 8, Marquis pleaded guilty to the two counts of indecent assault and one count of aggravated burglary. He was represented by Attorney at Law Richard Rowe.

Prior to being sentenced, Marquis said that he did not intentionally commit the act.

"My Lord, I really did not intend to commit this crime. I never in one minute sat and planned it and I grieve every day. I have no excuses; what I did was a crime, but it wasn't intentional or premeditated," he said at yesterday's hearing.

It was the crown's case that on December 23, 2011, the complainants were at their home and had retired to bed around midnight after securing their apartment. At approximately 6:30 am, one of the complainants woke up and saw a masked man over his head holding a knife.

The male complainant was ordered out of bed and was led out of the room whilst a knife was pointed to his face. The complainant was allegedly taken to another bedroom where he was commanded to lie on the floor. His hands were then tied behind his back and a towel was placed over his head.

According to court records, the complainant managed to untie his hands; however, the burglar noticed and took him into the kitchen where he used a shoelace to re-tie the complainant's hands and ordered him to take off his boxer shorts.

According to the investigations, the intruder went back to the bedroom where a female was sleeping and woke her up. The woman began screaming, but the accused held a knife to her head and subsequently used a headphone cord to tie her hands before leading her out of the bedroom to join her male counterpart.

The burglar then pulled the female complainant's shorts to her ankles, placed her on the bed, placed a pillow over her head and demanded money.

According to reports, the complainants told the burglar that they did not have any money and offered him their laptops instead.

He then took the female complainant to the other side of the bed and ordered her to kneel. According to the complainant, she then felt him behind her and she kept moving to prevent him from having sex with her. She also told him to stop.

According to the woman, the knife fell during a struggle and she managed to free herself. During the struggle, the shirt which was used to conceal the attacker's face fell.

Screams from the complainants alerted their neighbours. During this time, the defendant was holding the male complainant in a choke-hold position. One of the complainants managed to open the door and at that time, the defendant crawled onto the porch.

The matter was reported to the Police and on arrival at the scene, the defendant was found at the top of the stairs and appeared to be suffering as his mobility was affected. He was taken to the hospital by an ambulance. Both complainants were also treated at the hospital for multiple bruises about their bodies.

During an interview with the Police, Marquis told the lawmen that the last thing he remembered on Christmas Eve was drinking a bottle of Napoleon brandy and he woke up finding people around him.

In the Magistrate's Court in January 2011, it was stated that Marquis suffers from depression and he was intoxicated with the combination of cannabis at the time of the incident.