Convicted arsonist Cordney Brian Gardiner, 29, spoke for the first time Tuesday afternoon, just minutes before he was sentenced to 12 years each on four counts of arson of the Straw Market on Sept. 4, 2001.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
A jury found on May 1 that Gardiner intentionally and unlawfully caused fire to be set to the Bay Street Market Plaza, Beaumont House, Colony Place and Vendue House.
During his two-week trial in late April he refused to be seated, to communicate with his lawyer or to present a plea on his own behalf.
Yesterday, a subdued-appearing Gardiner told presiding Justice Ricardo Marques: “My Lord, to my sincere conscious mind and state it was not me.” In a barely coherent ramble, he said he did not remember anything before “the drama”, referring to the fire. He said also that he gave “Thanks for my life, my salvation and this clear right mind. According to the drama and the absence of total correspondence from the proceedings. I don’t remember.”
Justice Marques reminded him however, that his counsel had sought his assistance during the trial and he remained uncommunicative, and, when later questioned about his innocence or guilt, he remained unresponsive.
“I gather in all that you are saying, is that Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre has been helpful to you,” the judge told Gardiner, as he sentenced him to twelve years on each of the four counts of arson, with the sentences to run concurrently.
Gardiner had not been prosecuted for his beliefs, Justice Marques told him, pointing out that the incident occurred on a business day, “with the probability of life being lost.”
“I also have to bear in mind the interest of society,” he said, and, “The prison authorities will make you available to SRC once a week.”
He also told Gardiner that his counsel would inform him of his right to appeal the sentence and conviction, or both.
Dr. Bolaji Babatunde, asked to give the court his assessment of Gardiner since his remand on May 1 to SRC, said that he did not meet with the convicted man until May 5 and at that time he still refused to speak.
After about three to four weeks, “he started to open up,” the psychiatrist said, and a rapport was established as Gardiner showed interest in the matters being discussed. As for the destruction of the straw market, which brought him to trial, he said Gardiner told him he “can’t do anything about it now.”
In his opinion, the doctor said, Gardiner was aware of the charges against him and the consequences.
During the trial, the court was told that Gardiner had been diagnosed as a mild schizophrenic whose illness was induced from habitual cannabis abuse.
When asked by Defence Counsel Michael Hanna where Gardiner would be more appropriately confined – prison or the Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre, Dr. Babatunde said wherever he was placed, he would receive treatment.
Attorneys Gawaine Ward and Eurika Wilkinson appeared on behalf of the Crown.
Ella Bain, a Probation Officer at the Department of Rehabilitative and Probation Services, presented a report completed on Gardiner before sentence was passed.
She told the court that at the age of six years Gardiner was “hospitalized for having drunk kerosene oil.” Also, that he dropped out of school at the age of 12, after becoming a Rastafarian.
According to an interview with Nursing Officer Williams concerning Gardiner: “In 1999, he was referred again from the court (to SRC) for the attempted arson of the House of Assembly, and on each case he was treated and discharged.”
The nurse said that Gardiner receives treatment for his illness, but when the medication wore off he could be “irritable”.
In an interview with a prison official, she said, it was disclosed that Gardiner, while housed at a cell block within the Maximum Security Unit caused damage to light fixtures in the hallway.
Bain’s assessment of Gardiner during her interview was that, “He was coherent and understood questions and answers, but much of his speech was filled with Rastafarian jargon as he attempted to get his thoughts in easier terms.”
She said he exhibited a strong zeal for his faith; however, when questioned about the offences for which he was convicted, she said “He became evasive, eventually growing more unreceptive until the interview ceased.”
The probation officer said Gardiner’s family members felt he was “innocent and are distressed by the state of his affairs.”
In court yesterday, Gardiner sat with his hands clasped in his lap, staring forward with a blank expression on his face, a stark contrast from a month ago when he moved to and fro in the prisoner’s dock mimicking the sounds of a foghorn.
By Jimenita Swain, The Nassau Guardian
