A 17-year-old man who robbed a tourist of money so that he could buy clothes and marijuana, wept silently after he was sentenced to two years probation - the crime has a maximum penalty of ten years.

Warwick resident Damien Shamal Martin pleaded guilty to robbery on April 6, this year of a female tourist in Astwood Cove in Warwick.

But based on a probation report on Martin and an emphatic plea by his lawyer Larry Mussenden, Assistant Justice Charles-Etta Simmons said she wanted the young man to have an opportunity to get his life back on track and believed imprisonment would not help.

"I don't understand why young people make such bad choices," she said. "I don't want to see you go to jail, I want to see you take advantage of educational opportunities. You want to put yourself in a position of power and by that I mean be in control of your life. Having control of your life means making the right choices. All of that for marijuana, a momentary high, that's not going to put you in the right frame of mind."

Earlier, Crown counsel Juan Wolffe told that court that Martin approached his victim from behind wearing a dark hooded jacket and a mask and demanded she give him her money and belongings or else he would kill her.

Then he grabbed the woman's purse and camera and ran off.

Police eventually arrested Martin after they executed a search warrant of his home and found items and documents belonging to the female tourist.

Martin admitted robbing the woman and said: "I was sitting at home and I said, I had a choice. I could either mow my granny's lawn or I can go out and rob someone for money. So, I put on my mission gear and I rushed up on her and stole her bag and camera."

Mr. Wolffe said: "The victim was as tourist and that has serious consequences on the tourism industry. In what was a serene morning for the victim, in taking pictures of this beautiful Island, turned out to be a horrific experience. The maximum sentence is imprisonment for ten years. The seriousness of the offence could attract corrective training. This was a premeditated offence."

Mr. Mussenden however defended his client, saying that it was a case of "the devil made him do it".

"It was like having an angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other," he said. "He did assist the Police at the first opportunity. Mr. Martin has learned from his time in custody and he notes what his freedoms and liberties are valued at and knows what it feels like to have that taken from him. Mr. Martin appears before this court very sorry and full of remorse."

Mr. Mussenden also noted that Martin had written a letter to the victim apologising for his actions.

In addition to the two years probation, Martin faced a curfew, random drug testing and making an effort in completing his education as part of the conditions.

"You need some money, go and mow people's lawns or wash their cars," Mrs. Justice Simmons said. "The easy route gets you in hard places."