Appeal Court reduces 83-year prison sentence for man who torched wife to death

Aug 18, 2020 News

Sentenced: Delon Gordon

The Court of Appeal has reduced the 83 -year old prison sentence for Delon Gordon, who was convicted for torching his wife to death.
The Appellate Court bench which comprised Justices of Appeal Rishi Persaud, Dawn Gregory and Chief Justice, Roxane George-Wiltshire, on Friday reduced Gordon’s sentence replacing it with a 21 year prison term instead.
In determining the appeal, the three Justices held that the 83-year’s sentence imposed by High Court Justice, Navindra Singh, was too excessive and severe having considered all the circumstances of the case.
Gordon had challenged the decision of the jury at the Court of Appeal in Kingston, Georgetown after a jury convicted him of murdering his partner, Natasha Johnson, by setting her afire in their Better Hope, East Coast Demerara home.

Dead: Natasha Johnson

The incident occurred on July 4, 2011.
Attorney-at-law, Dexter Todd, appealed the conviction and 83-year sentence of which a minimum of 50 years has to be served before Gordon could become eligible for parole.
According to reports, Gordon set the house on fire with Johnson, himself and three children inside.
Johnson was burnt extensively and had to be taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries. A post mortem examination revealed that Johnson had suffered from a dislocated nasogastric tube, brain haemorrhage and congested kidneys with heavy lungs that oozed a bloody liquid.
These injuries led to Johnson suffering from Adult Distress Respiratory Syndrome (ADRS), which was brought on as a result of trauma from the burns, eventually leading to her death.
Among several grounds, Todd challenged the evidence of prosecution witness, fire investigator Gregory Wickham. Todd contended that the verdict of the jury was unreasonable, in that, it cannot be supported by the evidence adduced at the trial.
Further in questioning the testimony of the lone eyewitness, Todd noted that the lighting conditions in the couple’s home and how he could have allegedly seen Gordon pouring out kerosene from a stove, since another witness had testified that the area in which the couple lived did not have electricity.
Furthermore, the lawyer contended that there was no evidence to support that his client intentionally burnt the woman. This, he said, was one of the weaknesses in the prosecution’s case that Gordon’s lawyer, at the time, failed to challenge.
In making its determination, the Appeal Court only allowed Gordon to appeal against his sentence.
The Court sustained the decision that Gordon is guilty of murder but reduced the sentence by 62 years. Further, the Court ordered that time spent in custody from his conviction in 2014, be deducted from Gordon’s new sentence.

As a consequence, the court only allowed Gordon to appeal against his sentence which has now been reduced by 62 years. Time spent in custody from his conviction in 2014 was ordered to be deducted from the new sentence by the court. His murder conviction stands.

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