High Court disposes of 47 criminal cases -records fifteen guilty pleas in June sessions of Demerara Assizes

Sep 30, 2018 News

Justice Brassington Reynolds

Justices Sandil Kissoon, Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and Brassington Reynolds disposed of 47 matters during the June sessions of the Demerara Criminal Assizes.
According to information dispersed from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the cases were subtracted from a total of 223 cases listed to be heard.
The DDP presented twenty-nine cases at the Georgetown High Court while eighteen were nolle prosequi.
Of the twenty-nine cases presented, ten were for the offence of murder, three for manslaughter; ten for sexual offences, six for attempt to commit murder; three of which had alternative counts of felonious wounding, robbery with violence and wounding with intent.
There were fifteen guilty pleas, nine convictions, two not guilty verdicts by jury, one formal verdict of not guilty and one hung jury. There is still one case pending before Justice Kissoon.
State Counsel Lisa Cave, Orinthia Schmidt, Abigail Gibbs, Mandel Moore and Narissa Leander presented nine cases for murder; three for attempt to commit murder and two manslaughter cases were presented before Justice Sandil Kissoon.
In seven of the nine murder cases, the accused all pleaded guilty to the lesser of offence of manslaughter.
One accused was sentenced to life imprisonment, another two accused were each sentenced to twenty-three years imprisonment and the four others were respectively sentenced to twelve years, eighteen years, twenty-eight years and ten years’ imprisonment.

Justice Priya Beharry

In the other two matters, both accused were found unanimously guilty by jury verdicts and sentenced respectively to forty years and fifty-one years’ imprisonment.
Of the two cases for the offence of manslaughter, one accused pleaded guilty to the offence and was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. The other accused was sentenced to fifteen years after the jury returned a majority verdict of ten guilty to two not guilty.
Of the three matters for attempt to commit murder, one accused was sentenced to life imprisonment after the jury returned a majority verdict of eleven guilty to one not guilty.
One other accused pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentence on October 11; while the trial Judge is expected to sum up the one other trial on Monday, 1st October.
State Counsel Tiffini Lyken, Narissa Leander and Abigail Gibbs prosecuted one matter for rape of a child under 16 years before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow. The accused in this matter was remanded back to prison after the jury failed to reach a verdict.
State Counsel Orinthia Schmidt and Lisa Cave presented nine matters for sexual offences before Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
Of the nine matters, five were for the offence of rape of a child under 16 years, three for the offence of sexual activity with a child family member and one other rape matter.
Of the nine matters, seven accused were sentenced to life imprisonment while one other accused was sentenced to eighteen years’

Justice Sandil Kissoon

imprisonment. The complainant in another one matter testified that she did not wish to proceed with the matter and the trial judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
State Counsel Seeta Bishundial, Tiffini Lyken and Narissa Leander presented five cases before Justice Brassington Reynolds.
Of the five cases, one was for the offence of murder, three for attempt to commit murder with alternative counts of felonious wounding and wounding with intent and another one matter for the offence of manslaughter.
In the one murder trial, the accused was acquitted by a unanimous jury verdict.
In one of the three trials for attempt to commit murder, the accused was also acquitted by a unanimous jury verdict.
In another case, the accused pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment. The accused in the one other matter will be sentenced on October 8.
In the one matter for the offence of manslaughter, the accused was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment.
Of the eighteen matters nolle prosequi by the DPP, seventeen were for Sexual Offences and one for the offence of attempt to commit murder.
In the seventeen matters for Sexual Offences, 11 complainants’ submitted statements in which they stated their wish not to proceed with the evidence. The other six complainants failed to attend court despite public notices being published for them.
In the one matter for the offence of attempt to commit murder, the complainant also indicated in a written statement that she did not wish to proceed with the evidence in her matter.