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Court allows appeal for separate murder convictions
Lennox Syfox
In separate hearings, last week, the Court of Appeal converted murder convictions to manslaughter for two men on death row and substituted the death penalty with jail terms.
The two men, Lennox Syfox and Ramesh Sahadeo, were sentenced to death in July 2010 and February, 2013 respectively. The men are now sentenced to serve 30 years and 20 years in jail for manslaughter.
The sentences were imposed by Justices Roxane George and Brassington Reynolds. At the High Court, Syfox’s Attorney, Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos pointed to the length of time his client spent awaiting his trial.
The lawyer stated that the trial took place some five years after the incident.
He said that clearly it’s an infraction on his client’s behalf because his constitutional rights were not upheld.
“In Article 144, which states that everyone should be allowed to a hearing within a reasonable time…was definitely infringed on,” said De Santos.
De Santos had noted that he was “very surprised” at his client’s conviction and sentence and promised to appeal the case.
Syfox was found guilty of murdering his reputed wife, Roslyn Rodney, and also injuring his eight-month-old daughter Annalisa. The relationship between the two bore two children.
Ramesh Sahadeo
A number of witnesses were called at the High Court trial. They included eyewitness, Pauline Rodney, the mother of the dead woman. Syfox fathered two children with Rodney.
In the mother’s evidence, Pauline Rodney said she was at home at Lot 14 Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara, when Syfox who had a relationship with her daughter invaded the home.
The woman stated that Syfox began stabbing her daughter repeatedly with a silver knife.
“He plunged the knife into her…pushing it from side to side, plus he dragged it down her neck,” Rodney had explained to the jury.
Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh, who performed the post mortem, gave the cause of death as perforation of blood vessels and the lung.
Meanwhile, in 2013 Ramesh Sahadeo, called Bobo, was found guilty of the September 20, 2009 murder fellow villager Darshanan Ramanan, known Tato.
On September 20, 2009, during the afternoon hours, Vishal Dayaram called ‘Texas’, saw Darshanan Ramanan, seated on a concrete structure at Third Street, Middle Dam, Bush Lot Village, West Coast Berbice.
Dayaram, who was armed with a cutlass, had earlier retraced his steps from the backlands, when he saw and stopped to speak with Ramanan.
Minutes later, he departed and came in contact with the fellow villagers, and the accused, who asked to borrow his cutlass, which was used to inflict an injury to the neck of the now dead victim.
“The wounded man was taken to the Fort Wellington Cottage Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. A subsequent autopsy report revealed that death was due to shock and haemorrhage and incised wound to the neck”
In his unsworn statement however, Sahadeo had stated that he was innocent of the charge.
Recalling the events of September 20, 2009, he said that while walking towards North Pole Street in Bush Lot Village, West Coast Berbice, he saw ‘Texas’ and ‘Tato’ standing on the street. As he attempted to stand next to them, his hand jammed ‘Tato’, and as a result, the latter said ‘he nah want none leper man, no sick man, jam he’.
“I asked whether a simple issue as that should be laughed at, and he turned and slapped me. Questioned why the assault was made on my person, Tato started to curse me, before saying if I wanted something more, he can give it to me.
“He thereafter pelted a brick at me, prior to removing a short cutlass from his waist and coming towards me, resulting in a scuffle between us.
As we fought on the ground, Texas said ‘Chop he! Chop he!’ I got away from him, and ran home. I reported to my mother what had happened. She had promised to go with me to the station.
“However, the police kept me in custody before instituting a murder charge against me.”
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