Latest update January 18th, 2025 7:00 AM
‘Deportee’ jailed 70 years for Parika fuel dealer murder
– Another freed on a no-case for vagrant‘s murder
Freed: Eustace Griffith
Sentenced Kurt Thomas
Kaieteur News – Kurt Thomas called “Deportee” or “Yankee” was yesterday sentenced to 70 years in prison for the murder of Parika fuel dealer, Seeram Singh, while in another criminal trial case, the accused, Eustace Griffith, walked free on a murder charge based on a no-case submission. Both cases were presided over by Justice Navindra Singh at the Georgetown High Court.
In arriving at a sentence for Thomas, Justice Singh, started at a base of 60 years, but added 10 years since in his view, the evidence shows the crime was premeditated. Thomas will become eligible for parole after serving a minimum of 40 years behind bars.The jury found Thomas guilty of the charge on November 5 last, following a summing up of the evidence in the trial by Justice Singh.
Murdered: Seeram Singh
The verdict follows almost two weeks of trial in the High Court. During the trial, Thomas was implicated in the crime by several witnesses including eyewitness, Rajmohan Autar.
In his evidence, Autar told the Court that he operated a shop in the area where the shooting took place. He recalled that he had seen the accused pacing the area, and that he even purchased a Guinness at his shop before the robbery.The witness had claimed that he was inside his shop when he heard a commotion. He claimed that when he came outside, he saw the fuel dealer being chased by the man who had been pacing the area earlier, tugging at his gold chain.Autar claimed that there was a struggle between the victim and his robber who was armed with a gun and that he shot Seeram in the process.Thomas, who joined the proceeding from the Lusignan Prisons via Zoom, was represented by Attorney-at-Law Lyndon Amsterdam. The case was prosecuted by State Counsel Tuanna Hardy and Tyra Bakker.
In the other matter before Justice Singh, the Court upheld a no-case submission for Eustace Griffith called ‘Wrong Turn,’ freeing him of the murder charge for Stabroek Market vagrant, Steven Dexter Arthur. That case was also presented by Hardy and Bakker; Attorney Maxwell Mc Kay represented the accused.
In that case, reports indicated that on July 4th 2015, at about 07:00 hrs. both men were engaged in a heated argument, which soon turned into a scuffle, at the Stabroek Market Square.
Arthur, 45, of Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara, was stabbed to the stomach following an altercation with Griffith.
According to reports, the struggle between the two men ensued after Griffith threw a banana peel at the vagrant.
Griffith reportedly armed himself with a knife and attacked Arthur who was said to be a drug abuser, who did odd jobs around the Stabroek Market area.
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