CATEGORY:CRIMINAL MATTERS ---------------------------- INSIDE GRENADA Tuesday April 03,2007 by Wallace J.A GRENADA: Twenty-seven year old Nigel Sookram of Conference, St. Andrew’s, was yesterday sentenced to spend the next 18 years in prison for the murder of Joseph John, who was an employee of the Tivoli Gas Station. The murder of Joseph John was committed when Sookram and an accomplice, Denzil Charles (34) attempted to rob the gas station in December 2005. Charles, who was found guilty on a lesser charge, was sentences to 12 years behind bars. Sookram, who the jury believes would have fired the fatal shot which caused the death of Joseph John, received the longer sentence. The sentence was handed down yesterday (Monday April 02, 2007) by High Court judge, Justice Kenneth Benjamin. The sentencing brings the February Assizes to an end. In commenting on the sentence handed down to his client (Sookram), lawyer Anslem Clouden expressed the view that the harshness of the sentence was reflective of community’s revulsion to the murder and is meant to act as a deterrent to those who intend to use firearms to commit crimes.