Latest update February 10th, 2025 7:48 AM
Good Intent man gets eight years for cousin’s murder
Thirty-eight-year old Tekeram Lachanna, who in 2007 killed his cousin over a jersey, was yesterday sentenced to eight years in jail. The Good Intent, East Coast Demerara resident’s jail term was broken down from a 20-year sentence following a stated deduction of detention time by Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire at the Supreme Court.
Tekeram Lachanna
The former carpenter, prior to his sentence, had pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He was remorseful while addressing the court. “I am sorry for what happened. I made a mistake with my life. I’m in jail and I’ve changed my lifestyle. “ The unmarried accused, who has no children, said he would like to go home and find himself a family.
Lachanna on July 15, 2007, while in a drunken state, stabbed his cousin Mohamed Shafik Sheriff to death after an argument over a jersey the deceased was wearing, and which belonged to Lachanna.
According to State Prosecutor Konyo Sandiford, prior to the murder, Lachanna and other relatives, including his cousin, were consuming alcohol at a wedding house. Subsequently, around 07:00 hours the next morning, Lachanna and his cousin ended up in an argument where the former went into a kitchen, uplifted a knife and stabbed his cousin to the chest.
The cousin succumbed three days later while in hospital.
The prosecutor said that all the witnesses who testified in the case were relatives of the accused, but the main witnesses – Lachanna’s sister, Lalini Lachanna and Rachindra Truman, a cousin – could not be reached despite arrest warrants being issued. This, she said, facilitated the denial of the prosecution to object to the lesser count of manslaughter.
A female Probation Officer gave a sketchy report on Lachanna. She too said she could not make contact with the immediate family of the accused, but was able to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the stabbing incident.
Attorney-at-law Mark Waldron represented Lachanna. He told the court that at the time, his client was 33 years old and he had a good relationship with his cousin, with whom he spent much time. Waldron explained that the stabbing was an isolated incident that was not premeditated.
During a background report on his client’s life, Waldron told the court that Lachanna was raised in a single-parent home where his mother, due to her constant travelling, was hardly around. The attorney said his client entered the world of work by age 14, after having his highest level of schooling at nursery level.
Justice George-Wiltshire stated that it was another unfortunate situation of alcohol playing a part in bringing grief to a family. The Judge explained that everyone suffers; the accused and their family as well as the deceased and their family, but in this case, it is one family having to suffer from the loss of two persons.
In handing down the sentence, the Judge took into consideration time already served – five years. She deducted one year for the nature and seriousness of the offence and then six years – one-third of Lachanna’s total sentence.
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