66 years each for 5 men who killed Corentyne carpenter, Faiyaz Narinedatt

Jan 31, 2023 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

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Kaieteur News – The five men found guilty of the 2016 murder of Berbice carpenter Faiyaz Narinedatt last year, were on Monday sentenced to 66 years imprisonment each by Justice Navindra Singh.

Orlando Dickie called ‘Rastaman’, Radesh Motie called ‘Rado’, Diodath Datt called ‘Brukhand’, Harri Paul Parsram called ‘Lloydy’ and Niran Yacoob called ‘Orin’ will spend 66 years imprisonment for the gruesome murder of Narinedatt with a possibility of parole after spending a minimum of 25 years in prison.

The men were found guilty of murdering Narinedatt in November 2022 by a 12-member jury. The State was represented by special prosecutor, Latchmie Rahamat and State prosecutor Nafeeza Baig. The convicts were represented by Mursaline Bacchus and Arud Gossai.

Rahamat told the court that based on the evidence presented, it was clear that there was pre-meditation by those convicted. She argued that based on the evidence presented by the main witness, Marcus Bisram instructed the men to beat Narinedatt after he refused Bisram’s sexual advances.

“…he refused them and then he slapped Bisram and then Chaman Chunilal said he followed him through the house to the front, where the five accused persons were. He heard instructions given to ‘beat am till he dead’. And when those instructions were given, his evidence started to describe the level of violence. This violence that was meted out to a young man, who later died… they didn’t just beat him… they used pieces of wood which he [another witness] said came from a fence…” the lawyer told the court.

Rahamat told the court, “the attack was violent at the time of infliction, they showed no concern when he ran away from them and then when he fell in the trench and was picked up and dragged back, he was repeatedly beaten and the extent of the violence he faced from these five accused persons is recorded in the PM report.”

The special prosecutor referenced Narinedatt’s post mortem report which listed his cause of death as multiple fractures to the skull with cerebral damage, a fractured spine, a ruptured spleen and liver, a fractured arm and pulmonary contusion.

She pleaded with the court to institute the maximum sentence since, “there are no mitigating factors”.  Meanwhile, Narinedatt’s mother in an emotional address to the court disclosed that four of the five men convicted of the heinous crime are known to her family. She said they visited her home at No.72 Village, Berbice.

The distraught woman said that the men woke her son from his sleep and convinced Narinedatt to go out to catch iguanas with them. The woman said she had a bad feeling about the outing.

She said that though seven years have elapsed since her son’s death, “it pains me heart”. The grief struck woman told the men that they should not have executed their plan while blaming them for the state she is in.

“I am somebody different and I don’t like who I am. Me hate myself for who I become, I am not the same person I use to be and ayuh responsible for that,” the mother told the men noting that she is unable to trust anyone.

She continued: “…ayuh destroy my life, you just destroy my life entirely. I will never be happy again, no matter what me do. One son, one child me had in my life and ayuh know da. Ayuh, rip he life away from him,” she said.

Meanwhile, Justice Singh said based on the post mortem examination done on Narinedatt, there is “clear evidence of a brutal beating”. The High Court judge said that “the injuries are so numerous that even if you are angry with someone and got into a fight, at some point in time where there is no response from the other person, you must want to stop beating, this is a brutal beating.”

Justice Singh, just before sentencing the men, said that after considering the men’s statements, there are no mitigating circumstances that could be considered in their favour. Between October 31 and November 1, 2016, Narinedatt of No.73 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, was found lifeless on the No. 70 Village Public Road hours after he attended businessman Marcus Bisram’s birthday celebration. Narinedatt’s body was found in close proximity to Bisram’s home.

Bisram, a Guyanese-American had returned to the United States shortly after the murder of Narinedatt but was later extradited to Guyana and placed before the court for the Carpenter’s murder.

He was subsequently acquitted based on the lack of evidence and was set free in June 2020. However, Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack had instructed that Bisram be recommitted to stand trial for Narinedatt’s murder.

Bisram, through his lawyers, appealed and subsequently High Court Judge, Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall ruled that his imprisonment was unlawful and ordered his release. That decision was then overturned by the Court of Appeal and Bisram moved an appeal to the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) where it was ordered that he be released.

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• Diodath Datt called ‘Brukhand’, Harri Paul Parsram called ‘Lloydy’, Justice Navindra Singh, Niran Yacoob called ‘Orin’, Orlando Dickie called ‘Rastaman’, Radesh Motie called ‘Rado’

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