18 matters disposed of at Berbice, Essequibo Criminal Assizes

The Berbice Criminal Assizes commenced on Tuesday, February 7, and according to a statement from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), nine matters were presented by State prosecutors before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the High Court in Berbice. A total of 108 matters for various criminal offences had been listed for trial.

Of the matters presented, five were for the capital offence of murder, two for attempt to commit murder with alternative counts of wounding with intent and felonious wounding, one for the offence of manslaughter, and another for inflicting grievous bodily harm.
One of the murder cases involved three accused who were indicted together. The number one accused pleaded guilty as charged and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after serving 25 years. In relation to the other two accused, the trial Judge upheld no case submissions and directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty.
ln another two separate cases, the accused both pleaded guilty to murder, and are awaiting sentencing; while in two other matters, the accused both pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. They too are awaiting their sentencing.
The two complainants in the matters for attempt to commit murder with alternative counts of wounding with intent and felonious wounding and one for inflicting grievous bodily harm testified in court that they did not wish to proceed with their evidence and as such, the trial Judge directed the juries to return formal verdicts of not guilty.

The accused in the one matter for the offence of manslaughter was acquitted by a jury verdict of not guilty. The DPP nolle prosequi two matters because both accused have died. The Berbice June Assizes commences on June 20, 2023.
Meanwhile, the Essequibo Criminal Assizes commenced on Tuesday, May 6, 2023, with 91 cases listed to be heard. State Counsel Taneisha Saygon has prosecuted nine matters so far at the High Court in Essequibo. Two of these matters were for the offence of murder and they were presented before Justice Sandil Kissoon, who sat from January and closed the October 2022 assizes.
In these two separate cases, the accused were each sentenced to life imprisonment and will become eligible for parole after serving 30 years. One accused had pleaded guilty as charged while the other was found guilty by a jury verdict on the lesser count of manslaughter. The other seven matters were before Justice Jo Ann Barlow.

Of these, there were three matters for the offence of murder, one each for the offences of murder in the furtherance of a robbery and attempt to commit murder, and two for sexual offences.
The accused in the three murder matters and the one for the murder in furtherance of a robbery, all pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and are awaiting sentencing.
The accused in the matter for the offence of attempt to commit murder was acquitted by a jury verdict of not guilty, while in the two sexual offences matters, one accused was found guilty by the jury and is awaiting sentencing while the other was found not guilty. The Essequibo May Assizes remains in progress until October 2023.