2 guilty, 1 freed for sexual assault of 17-year-old

Barama rape trial

— number one accused jailed for 29 years

Nine years after a 17-year-old girl was found naked and crying on a bed in Barama Company Limited, East Bank Demerara (EBD), after being raped, a mixed jury on Thursday found two of the accused guilty, while the third accused was freed.

After lengthy deliberations between State Counsel Siand Dhurjon and defence Attorneys in the Demerara Assizes, the mixed jury returned their verdict to presiding Judge, Justice Jo-Ann Barlow.

Paul Abrams, Claude Craig and Holston Melville were all accused of raping and sodomising the 17-year-old in 2007, while she was employed at Barama Company Limited, Land of Canaan, EBD.

Abrams, the number one accused, was sentenced to 29 years in prison, as the jury by way of a unanimous decision found him guilty of buggery and indecent assault.

Abrams’ Attorney, Bernard De Santos (SC) told the court that his client was married and is the father of four children. However, Justice Barlow said that society expects better from its men, especially when placed in a supervisory role, based on the fact that Abrams was the teen’s Supervisor at Barama.

Justice Barlow also highlighted that the jury did not find him guilty of rape because the facts showed that he and the VC had “an arrangement” but he negated from the arrangement and imprisoned her, then violated her in the worst possible way.

The number two accused, Craig, was only found guilty of indecent assault by a jury which was split 11 to one.

However, Craig was found not guilty on the account of buggery.

Attorney Nigel Hughes in his representation of the number two accused told the court that his client was 39 years old, a father of four with the youngest being two years old. Craig is gainfully employed and the sole breadwinner of his family.

Hughes said that while his client is deeply remorseful, he understands that he must be penalised for his actions and “when we are young we tend to have a lot of free time on our hands. It seems as if everyone that night had a lot of time on their hands,” the Attorney said.

Justice Barlow sentenced Craig to four years imprisonment as she highlighted that he showed no mercy when he found his co-worker naked and crying.

Meanwhile, the third accused, Melville, who was also represented by Attorney De Santos was freed after the jury found him not guilty of buggery and indecent assault.

On the evening of December 5, 2007, the then 17-year-old female dryer operator was working the night shift when her Supervisor, Abrams, asked her for assistance and led her into a room, where he proceeded to rape and sodomise her.

Abrams reportedly then locked the young woman in the room and later returned in the company of Melville who also reportedly proceeded to rape and sodomise her.

After some time elapsed, the two men left the room, locking the woman in, once more; it was then Craig entered and reportedly sodomised the young woman.