25 matters disposed of at last session of Demerara Criminal Assizes

The chamber of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has reported that a total of 25 matters were disposed of at the June session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes. The criminal assizes commenced on June 1, with a total of 331 cases listed to be heard. While 20 matters were presented on indictment at the Demerara High Court, five of them were nolle prosequi by the DPP.
Of the 20 cases presented, eight were for murder and 12 for sexual offences. A total of 26 persons appeared in these 20 cases. In five of them, two accused persons were indicted together. There were eight convictions, seven not guilty verdicts, seven guilty pleas, one hung jury, and two formal not guilty verdicts.
Eight matters for the offence of murder were presented before Justice Sandil Kissoon. In one of the cases in which two accused were indicted together, they were both found unanimously guilty by jury verdicts and sentenced to death. In another four cases with a total of six accused, each of them pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Four of them must each serve 15 years before being eligible for parole. The other two will respectively serve 20 years and 30 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole. In another separate case, the accused also pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The trial Judge in another matter upheld a no-case submission and directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty. And in one other case with two accused, the jury returned hung for the number one while the number two accused was found not guilty.
Over in the Sexual Offences Court, 12 matters were presented – three before Justice Brassington Reynolds and nine before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow. In two of the three matters before Justice Reynolds, both accused were found guilty by jury verdicts for the offence of rape of a child under 16 years.
In the other matter, the accused who was indicted on two counts was sentenced to 25 years on each count. The other one was sentenced to 18 years in prison. The other accused was acquitted by jury verdict. Of the nine cases before Justice Barlow, the juries in five of them returned verdicts of not guilty.
In another one, the accused pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. In one other case, the two accused who were indicted together were both found guilty by jury verdicts and were each sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment.
In another matter, the accused who was indicted for rape and assault causing actual bodily harm was found guilty for the alternative offence of assault causing actual bodily harm. He is awaiting sentencing.
There was one other case in which the virtual complainant testified that she did not wish to proceed with the evidence, and as such, the trial Judge directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty.
In the five matters nolle prosequi by the DPP, one was for the offence of attempt to commit murder with an alternative count of discharging a loaded firearm with intent. The complainant in this matter has since died. The other four matters were for sexual offences. These four complainants submitted written statements indicating that they did not wish to proceed with their respective matters.