- by Met
Bus Conductor Who Killed Rival Over Passengers Will Have To Serve At L
The bus conductor who stabbed a rival to death in downtown Kingston five years ago during a New Year’s Eve dispute over passengers will have to spend at least 15 years in prison.
Roland Bornstorph was given the mandatory life in prison when he was sentenced in the Home Circuit Court yesterday.
He was ordered to serve 15 years before he becomes eligible for parole.
Bornstorph was found guilty in April for stabbing bus conductor Kenroy Smith three times – twice in the chest – during a dispute at the Darling Street bus terminus on December 31, 2014.
A jury deliberated for two hours before returning a unanimous verdict in his murder trial.
Both Bornstorph and Smith worked on buses that operate between Kingston and Ocho Rios, in St Ann.
Prosecutors Andrea Martin Swaby and Rosheide Spence relied on the testimony of an off-duty police sergeant who was a passenger on Smith’s bus to prove their case.
The sergeant testified that Smith refused to allow the bus to leave the terminus, insisting that he would not do so until he had a full load of passengers.
He said he and other passengers got off the bus because of the delay and boarded Bornstorph’s bus, setting off an argument between the two conductors.
The policeman said the argument escalated into a “tussle” between the two men, causing him to separate them.
He testified that he reprimanded Bornstorph and instructed him to board his bus and depart for Ocho Rios.
The off-duty sergeant gave evidence that Bornstorph walked away in the direction of his bus, but said within a minute there was a loud commotion in the direction of the area where other passengers had taken Smith.
He said he saw the two conductors again tussling and, on his approach, Smith released his hold on Bornstorph and raised his hands in the air.
The police sergeant said it was at this point that Bornstorph stabbed Smith twice “in the region of the chest.”
He was pronounced dead at hospital.