Mentally ill man gets forty years for murder

May 15, 2015 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

Gilbert Gill called ‘Bizen Bull’ was yesterday sentenced to forty years imprisonment by Justice Roxanne George, at the High Court in Georgetown, for the murder of West Bank Demerara Fisherman Khemraj Dass called ‘Lakeram Dass’ or ‘Lako.’
A psychiatric evaluation and probation report was ordered after Gill opted to plead guilty to the capital offence, last month.
Gill admitted to killing Dass between July 7 and 10, 2012 while they were working on a boat together. Gill confessed to brutally slashing the throat of the 42 year -old seaman before tossing his body overboard.
According to reports, the two men were on board a barge that was destined to carry lumber to a timber grant at Yaruni, Demerara River, when they were engaged in a confrontation.
The captain (Gill’s father) reported that he went to sleep leaving the two men awake.
The man said that when he arose from his sleep, he inquired from his son about Lako’s whereabouts and was told that he had been killed.
Gill reportedly told his father “What you asking me about ‘Lako?’ I give he two lash, cut he throat and shove he overboard.”
Based on his observation, Dr. Bhiro Harry, a psychiatrist attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), told the court last week that Gill suffers from mental retardation, organic brain syndrome and subliminal seizures.
The psychiatrist said none-the-less that Gill is fit to stand trial since he has a coherent recollection of the incident, and understands the charge and penalty attached.
Meanwhile, the probation report outlined that Gill has taken full responsibility for the crime and has since been remorseful about the incident. The report also stated that Gill, who has a history of outburst due to his mental condition, was brought up in a home where violence was common.
In his plea of mitigation, attorney- at-law Madan Kissoon spoke of the aforementioned factors and requested that the court imposes a sentence which will allow Gill access to treatment for mental and psychiatric reformation. The lawyer also noted, that his client had no prior convictions and did not waste the court’s time; he pleaded guilty to the offence from the beginning.
Gill, on the other hand, told the court before the sentence was handed down that he is innocent of the charge. “Me aint really understand what you tell me the other day,” he said in reference to the charge which was read to him.
Taking all the factors into consideration, Justice George noted that it is her view that “the accused callously took the life of another.”
The judge also indicated that given his mental issues and prior outbursts, she considers Gill to be a danger to society.
Justice George initially sentenced the accused to 50 years imprisonment, but deducted five years for the guilty plea, two years for the other mitigating factors and three years for the time already spent in prison pending trial.
The judge also ruled that while serving his prison sentence, Gill should be allowed the necessary treatment for his mental illness. She said that he will be eligible for parole after serving a maximum of 25 years in prison.

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Mentally ill man gets forty years for murder

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