20-year sentence for murder convict upheld

The 20-year jail sentence imposed on Clevon Romeo for the October 24, 2012 murder of a Lima, Essequibo Coast businessman was on Wednesday affirmed by the Guyana Court of Appeal. In 2014, a 12-person jury found Romeo guilty of killing 56-year-old Herman Ramnarine.

Romeo was subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison by Justice Franklyn Holder at the Suddie High Court. Romeo, through his lawyer, Dexter Todd, later filed an appeal asking the court to set aside and/or reverse his conviction and sentence.
During Wednesday’s court proceedings, Prosecutor Natasha Bakker asked that the appeal be dismissed on the basis that a Notice of Abandonment was filed claiming that Todd had neglected to appear for his client. However, Todd told the court that efforts made to contact Romeo’s lawyers for legal fees have proven futile. The lawyer, nevertheless, offered assistance to the murder convict.
Acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards said that Romeo’s sentence would be reduced to reflect the time he spent on remand awaiting trial. In doing so, Justice Cummings-Edwards cited a ruling by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in the case of Romeo Da Cost Hall v The Queen.

In that case, the regional court held that full credit should be granted for the time an accused person spent in pre-trial custody. The Appeal Court further ordered that the sentence would take effect from the date of conviction. In the end, the court dismissed the appeal, affirming the conviction and sentence.
According to reports, Ramnarine was found lying motionless in his home by his wife, who had managed to free herself after she was tied up by armed bandits. The man who had injuries to his head was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
It was reported that the woman was at home when she was confronted by two men, one of whom was armed with a cutlass. Police in a statement had said that the men took away an undisclosed sum of cash and a quantity of jewellery before fleeing.