Latest update April 10th, 2025 12:06 AM
11 matters disposed at Berbice, Essequibo criminal assizes
Eleven matters were disposed at the February session of the Berbice and Essequibo criminal assizes. According to a statement from the chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), of the 100 cases listed to be heard at the Berbice assizes, six of them were complete
d by State Counsel Mandel Moore before Justice Jo Ann Barlow.
Of the six cases, three were for murder, one for attempt to commit murder with an alternative count of wounding with Intent, and two others for sexual offences. In one of the three murder cases in which two accused were indicted jointly, the trial judge upheld a no case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The other murder accused was acquitted by the jury.
The other murder accused, on the other hand, pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and will be sentenced today. The accused in the matter for attempt to commit murder with the alternative of wounding with intent was found guilty by the jury on the alternative count and sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment.
Furthermore, in one of the two sexual offences matters, the complainant informed the court that she did not wish to proceed with her testimony, and trial judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. The other accused was acquitted by a jury verdict of not guilty. The Berbice criminal session remains in progress.
Meanwhile, over at the Essequibo criminal assizes Prosecutor Shawnette Austin completed five of the 81 matters listed to be heard before Justice Narishwar Harnanan who sat from April. Of these five matters, two were for murder and three for rape of a child under 16 years. In one of the two murder cases, the accused person was found guilty on the lesser count of manslaughter and was sentenced to 17 years and 10 months’ imprisonment.
The other accused pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to four years and three months imprisonment. The complainants in the three cases for rape of a child under 16 years did not wish to proceed with their cases and the trial judge directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty.
Moreover, during May the DPP appeared thrice in the Court of Appeal. The three matters were for murder. In one of these cases, two appellants who were convicted together at the end of their High Court trial were granted their appeal and their conviction for murder was substituted with manslaughter.
In the end, they were each sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. Another appellant had his appeal allowed and his 70 years prison sentence reduced to 30 years, while another appellant had his conviction and sentence set aside and a retrial ordered. The Demerara Full Court sat four times during May.
The Full Court denied two appellants their applications for bail, while it upheld the convictions of the other two appellants but varied their sentences.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
Does the PNCR really want to go down this road?
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- By the time I reached the fourth cup of chamomile tea—don’t judge me, it’s calming—I... more
The U.S. “Joining” the Commonwealth: an unreasonable expectation
By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- Recent media stories have suggested that King Charles III could “invite” the United... more
Weekend Cartoon
