guilty of armed robbery.

After nearly two weeks of evidence a jury of ten women and two men took just two hours to reach unanimous verdicts on all five counts that the 32-year-old Devon Spring Road man had been charged with.

Lightbourne was given consecutive prison terms of 12 and ten years for armed robbery and using a firearm following a raid on the Somerset branch of the Bank of Butterfield in July 1997.

He was also given seven year concurrent terms for two counts of wounding and an additional two years for carrying a firearm with intent to commit an offence.

But the total count of 22 years will not kick in until Lightbourne has completed a prison sentence for two other offences. In October of 1997, just three months after the Bank of Butterfield heist, Lightbourne was sent to prison for 18 months after pleading guilty to causing death by dangerous driving. Then, last May, the father of one was jailed for an additional ten years after being convicted of the 1995 raid on Woody's Drive Inn in which the proprietor was slashed with a knife.

The court also heard that Lightbourne has spent convictions for assault and a third robbery committed in 1992 for which he received a seven year prison term.

As the forewoman of the jury read out the verdicts in Supreme Court Three yesterday afternoon Lightbourne bowed his head but remained emotionless as he sat in the dock.

And he maintained his composure when he addressed the packed courtroom just before sentence was passed.

"I have been here for almost two weeks listening to proceedings and hearing evidence which has been mostly against me and I can understand from their point of view why the jury came to that decision,'' he said.

"Hearing my past record they may think that helps them feel that they have done the right thing but I know that the truth never came out in this trial.

"I am not going behind their verdict -- I am just stating that not everything that took place in this robbery has been made known to the jury and I find myself in this situation.

"I still maintain my innocence but I accept what you have to do.'' Lightbourne's attorney, Marc Telemaque pleaded with Puisne Judge Norma Wade Miller to show Lightbourne mercy.

"This is a married man with a child so, whatever Your Ladyship does it's not fully in a vacuum,'' he said.

"This is an unfortunate set of circumstances. There's a family who will bear the brunt of all that must inevitably fall. But we have not had an opportunity to hear in any way, shape or fashion why it is that this kind of behaviour is symptomatic of this individual.

"Not only must these courts do justice -- they must render justice with mercy.'' But Mrs. Justice Wade-Miller said she could not ignore Lightbourne's horrendous criminal career.

"Your attorney has asked for justice with mercy but I think the attack on Randolph Spencer, John Gilbert and Clayton Simmons was nothing short of merciless,'' she said.

"It was a terrifying experience for them. While this court does not sentence you for your previous offences you have been convicted of two similar offences and now you add yet another to your catalogue.'' Sentenced to 22 years in prison During trial the court had heard how Lightbourne and his co-accused, Reid Jones, raided the bank on the morning of July 8, 1997.

They pounced just as a security van was making a delivery to the branch and Lightbourne, armed with a pistol, knocked one of the elderly security guards unconscious and pistol whipped another bank employee.

But the robbers' plans were foiled when their getaway cycle failed to start.

Forced to flee the scene on foot, they left a trail of evidence behind them.

Both men were arrested shortly after.

Jones is currently serving a seven year prison sentence after admitting his part in the raid, which netted the robbers $70,000. The money has never been recovered.

Lightbourne's defence hinged on whether the jury believed his alibi that he was in Hamilton fixing a bike while the robbery was taking place.

And he produced a witness, Winston Young, who backed up the accused man's claim.

But prosecutor Patrick Doherty insisted that the amount of forensic evidence gathered at the crime scene -- including Lightbourne's fingerprints and bloodstains -- was conclusive proof that the man in the dock was the same man who masterminded the robbery.