Demerara High Court complete 40 matters, backlog stands at 144

Apr 02, 2016 News

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Jail delivery was done on Friday by Madam Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry bringing to an end the January 2016 Criminal Assizes which commenced on Tuesday January 12, 2016. The Demerara January 2016 Assizes was presided over by Justice Navindra Singh, Madam Justice Jo-Ann Barlow and Madam Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry.
A total of 184 cases were listed to be heard during the Assizes. Forty matters were completed during the Demerara January 2016 Criminal Assizes in the High Court of Demerara. Of these 40 matters, 33 of them were presented in the High Court. Seven of them were nolle prosequi by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Of these 33 matters that were presented, seven of them were for the offence of murder, three for the offence of Rape, three for the offence of Carnal Knowledge of Girl under 15 years, four matters for the offence of Rape of A Child under 16 Years, four for the offence of Manslaughter, eight for the offence of attempt to commit murder, three matters for the offence of sexual activity with a Child Family Member and one matter for the offence of Causing Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent.
The seven matters nolle prosequi by the DPP were for the offences of Buggery, Carnal Knowledge of Girl under 15 years, sexual activity with a child by abusing a position of trust, Rape of A Child under 16 years and two for the offence of murder.
There were eight convictions, 12 formal verdicts of not guilty, nine not guilty verdicts by jury, two guilty pleas and one hung jury. In one case the accused was remanded to prison because he was in breach of the conditions of his bail and he is awaiting trial.
Justice Navindra Singh completed 17 matters. Of these, four were for the offence of Murder, three for the offence of Rape, two for the offence of Rape of a Child under 16 years, three for the offence of Attempt to Commit Murder, three for the offence of Sexual Activity with a Child Family Member and two were for the offence of Manslaughter.
In one of the four murder cases the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of Manslaughter and was sentenced to life imprisonment. In another murder case the accused was sentenced to 88 years’ imprisonment after the jury returned a unanimously guilty verdict.
In the third matter, the accused was sentenced to 28 years’ imprisonment after the jury returned a majority verdict in proportion of 11 guilty to one not guilty on the lesser offence of manslaughter.
In another case, the trial judge upheld a no case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The State has appealed this matter.
Of the four murder cases the accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to life imprisonment. In another murder case the accused was sentenced to 88 years’ imprisonment after the jury returned a unanimously guilty verdict. In the third matter, the accused was sentenced to 28 years imprisonment after the jury returned a majority verdict in proportion of 11 guilty to one not guilty on the lesser offence of Manslaughter.
In three separate cases for the offence of Rape, the victims testified in Court that they did not wish to proceed with the evidence against the accused. The trial judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
In the two matters for the offence of Rape of a Child under 16, both accused were each sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment after the respective juries were unanimous with guilty verdicts.
In one of the three cases for the offence of Attempt to Commit Murder, the complainant offered no evidence against the accused leaving the trial judge no option but to direct the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
In another matter the accused pleaded guilty to the alternative charge of wounding with Intent and was sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment. The accused in a third trial was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment after he was found guilty by a majority verdict of 10 guilty to two not guilty.
Three matters for the offence of Sexual Activity with a Child Family Member were presented before Justice Singh, in one of these matters, the accused was acquitted. In another matter, the trial directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty after the complainant indicated to the Court that she did not wish to proceed with the evidence against the accused. The accused in the third case was remanded to prison pending his trial in April because he was in breach of the conditions of his bail.
In the two cases for the offence of Manslaughter, the accused were both acquitted consequent upon the trial judge directing the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty due to insufficient evidence.
Justice Jo-Ann Barlow completed eight matters. Two of these matters were for the offence of Carnal Knowledge of Girl under fifteen Years, one matter was for the offence of manslaughter, four cases were for the offence of Attempt to Commit Murder and one matter for the offence of Murder.
In one of the two matters for the offence of Carnal Knowledge of Girl under Fifteen Years, the accused who was indicted on three counts, was acquitted after the jury returned a majority verdict of 10 not guilty to two guilty. The trial for the other one matter was aborted after the Court learnt that the accused had died before the verdict was given.
The accused in the one case for the offence of manslaughter was acquitted by a unanimous jury verdict of not guilty.
In one of the four matters for the offence of Attempt to Commit Murder, the accused was freed after the two complainants testified in court that they did not wish to offer any evidence against the accused and caused the trial judge to direct the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
ln another trial, the accused who was indicted on three counts of Attempt to commit Murder,
Wounding With Intent and Discharging a loaded firearm with Intent, was found guilty by a majority verdict in proportion 10 guilty to two not guilty on the second count of Wounding With Intent and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
ln a third case for the offence of Attempt to commit Murder with an alternative count of wounding with Intent, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty on the alternative count and the accused was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment by the trial judge’
The accused in the fourth trial was acquitted by a unanimous jury verdict.
ln the one matter for the offence of Murder, the accused was also acquitted by a unanimous verdict returned by the jury.
Madam Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry completed eight matters— one for the offence of Carnal
Knowledge of A Girl under 15 Years, two matters for the offence of Murder, two cases of Rape of A child under sixteen years, one for causing Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent, another one for the offence of manslaughter and one for attempt to commit murder with the alternative count of causing Grievous Bodily Harm.
In four separate matters, one each for the offences of Carnal Knowledge of A Girl under fifteen Years, one for Murder, one for Rape of A Child under Sixteen Years and another one for the offence of Manslaughter, the accused were all acquitted after the respective juries returned verdicts of not guilty’.
ln the one case for the offence of Causing Grievous Bodily Harm with Intent, the victim went into the witness box and indicated that she no longer wanted to proceed with the matter and caused the trial judge to direct the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty for the accused’
ln one other case for the offence of murder the jury returned hung and the accused was remanded back to prison to await a new trial. In the other case for the offence of Rape of a child under sixteen years, the victim informed the court that she did not wish to proceed with the evidence and the trial judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty’
In the case for Attempt to commit Murder with the alternative count of causing Grievous Bodily Harm, the jury returned a majority not guilty verdict of 11 to 1 for the offence of Attempt to Commit Murder but guilty of the alternative count of Causing Grievous Bodily Harm.
The accused was sentenced to seven years imprisonment.
Of the seven matters nolle prosequi by the DPP five of them were for the offences of buggery, Carnal Knowledge of Girl under Fifteen Years, Sexual Activity with A Child By Abusing A Position of Trust and Rape of A child Under sixteen years because the complainants in written statements indicated that they no longer wished to proceed with their matters.
The other two matters were for the offence of Murder. The two accused were burnt in the fire at the Georgetown Prison during the riots on March 3, 2016′
At the same time Justice Franklyn Holder sat at the Berbice Criminal Assizes which commenced on February 2, 2016.
A total of sixty-five cases are listed to be heard during the session.
Six matters have been presented before Justice Holder. Of these six matters four of them were for the offence of Murder, one for the offence of Attempt to Commit Murder with an alternative count of Wounding with Intent and one for the offence of Sexual Activity with A Child Family Member.
In one case for the offence of Murder, the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty. One other trial was aborted after the mother of the deceased reported to the prosecution that she had seen a member of the jury speaking with the accused and further, several of the jurors worked and lived next to the accused.
Trial Judge Holder held an enquiry and ruled that the jury was compromised and could
not be impartial. The accused was remanded to prison to await a new trial.
In one other case, the trial judge upheld a no case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The accused in a fourth murder trial pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of Manslaughter and was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment.
He will not be entitled to parole before serving 22years.
In the one trial for the offence of Attempt to Commit Murder and Wounding with Intent, there were two accused. They were both found guilty by the jury and sentenced to 17 years and 12 years respectively.
The accused in the matter for the offence of Sexual Activity with A Child Family member had the benefit of a formal verdict of not guilty after the prosecution had offered no evidence against him due to the absence of the complainant. The trial judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
The Essequibo Criminal Assizes commenced on February 16, 2016 with Justice James
Bovell-Drakes. Twenty-eight cases are listed to be heard. The session continues.
One matter for the offence of Attempt to Commit Murder and the alternative count of Felonious
Wounding has been completed. The accused in this matter was acquitted after the trial judge upheld a no case submission on the first count while the victim testified that he did not wish to proceed with the evidence against the accused and caused the trial judge to direct the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty for the alternative count.
There are 163 cases listed to be heard during the Demerara April Assizes when it commences on
Tuesday before Justice Navindra Singh, Madam Justice Jo-Ann Barlow and Madam Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry will continue to sit. The Berbice February Assizes will continue until June 21, 2016 when the June Assizes commences.
The Essequibo February Assizes will also continue until the May Assizes start on May 17. Between January and March, seven matters were disposed of in the Court of Appeal while three matters were done in the Demerara Full Court.
For the same period, the Berbice Full Court heard 13 matters.

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