A convicted robber who doubled as a street vendor and poet has been sentenced to hang for the murder of reggae star Peter Tosh and two of his friends. A jury of eight women and four men took six minutes Friday to convict Dennis Lobban, 33, on three counts of murder. Justice Carl Patterson then sentenced him to hang. Throughout the trial which began Monday, Lobban insisted he was innocent. He claimed he was drinking with friends far from Tosh's house the night of Sept. 11, 1987, when Tosh, radio disc jockey Jeff Dixon and Wilton ``Doc'' Brown were gunned down during a robbery at Tosh's home. Four others survived the attack. Lobban, a convicted felon with a long police record, was out on parole when the murders were committed. Steve Russell, 26, of Kingston, who had been charged jointly with Lobban, was freed on Thursday. Russell's lawyer argued successfully that the prosecution failed to show Russell was involved in the slayings. Russell claimed he only drove the killers to Tosh's home without going inside or knowing they were going to kill Tosh. Lobban is a ``higgler,'' or street vendor, and a ``dub poet,'' who recites poetry to reggae music. He has been convicted of eight previous felons, ranging from illegal possession of firearms to armed robbery. Lobban was escorted from court by armed guards and taken to prison to join 188 other people on death row. Any appeal would go to the Jamaican Court of Appeal. The final court of appeal is the Privy Council in England. Tosh, 42 years old at the time of his death, was nominated for a Grammy in 1985 for his album, ``Captured Live.'' In 1963, Tosh, Bob Marley and Neville Livingstone formed the group The Wailers, which catapulted reggae's easy rhythms from the slums of Kingston onto the world stage. Born Winston Herbert MacIntosh, Tosh left The Wailers in 1973. One later Tosh group was Word, Sound and Power. Outside Jamaica, Tosh was perhaps best known for his collaboration with Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger on the Smokey Robinson song, ``(You Got To) Walk and Don't Look Back,'' and for his hit, ``Legalize It,'' a plea for the legalization of marijuana.
