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Fisherman who burned crew members to death gets life imprisonment
Kaieteur News – A Fyrish Village, Corentyne, Berbice fisherman was given two life sentences with the possibility of being paroled after 30 years on Monday, weeks after he was found guilty of torching his crew members to death.
Ravindranauth Mohanlall
Ravindranauth Mohanlall called ‘Fred’ was charged for the murder of boat captain Beeram Motilall and Renard Fernandes, a teen boy whom he murdered back in 2011. The incident was committed between September 6, 2011 and September 12, 2011, at sea in the vicinity of Bush Lot Village, Corentyne. Mohanlall had been on remand since then. He was on trial before Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Berbice High Court.
While delivering his sentencing remarks, Justice Kissoon noted that the “inordinate delay” in bringing Mohanlall up for trial resulted in a breach of Article 144 (1) of the Constitution of Guyana which guarantees that each accused “shall be afforded a fair hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial court established by law”.
For this breach, the Judge made a deduction of five years from each of the sentences and further ordered that this convict be given full credit for all the years he has spent on remand. In the end, Mohanlall was sentenced to life imprisonment on each of the two counts of murder. Justice Kissoon ordered that this murderer’s eligibility for parole is contingent upon him serving a minimum of 30 years in prison on each count. The two sentences will run concurrently.
During the trial, the State’s case was presented by State Counsel Muntaz Ali. According to the State’s case, Mohanlall threw gasoline on his fellow crew members Motilall, and Fernandes and set them alight. It was stated that on September 6, 2011 at 07:30hours, Motilall, in the company of the two men, left Albion to go fishing in Brigelall Hardyal’s boat.
Hardyal subsequently received a phone call around 22:00hours on the same date from Motilall. As a result, he and several others went by minibus to a koker to await the arrival of the boat. One hour later, the boat arrived at the shore and Hardyal observed burn marks on Motilall and Fernandes bodies. Sections of the boat and some items were also burnt. The two injured men were rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital. Along the journey, they told one Shaleza Sookdeo, Motilall’s wife, that the accused threw gasoline on them and lit them afire.
A report was made at the Albion Police Station. Mohanlall, who was nearby on the road, was pointed out to the police and he was subsequently arrested.
Motilall, died on September 9 while Fernandes succumbed two days later. The cause of their deaths was given as adult respiratory distress syndrome, resulting from the severe burns to their bodies. Mohanlall, was represented by attorney-at-law, Stacy Goodings during the trial.
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