56 New Amsterdam Prison inmates awaiting trial

– as October Berbice Criminal Assizes opens

Some 55 men and one woman are presently in the New Amsterdam Prison awaiting trial for several offences and could be tried in the October session of the Berbice Criminal Assizes, which opened on Tuesday.
The criminal assizes opened with the traditional parade along Esplanade Road outside the Berbice High Court, and the cases are expected to be heard by Justice Sandil Kissoon. This session will run until January.

The session opened with the customary parade of security forces, led by the police contingent and senior officers, including Region Six Commander Shivpersaud Bacchus, and was attended by local dignitaries such as the Mayor of New Amsterdam, Wainwright McIntosh, and his deputy.
The salute was taken by Justice Nicola Pierre. The Guyana Times understands that of the fifty-six, four have indicated their intention to offer guilty pleas for the offences they are indicted for: two for murder, one for rape, and one for wounding.
Overall, one woman and 45 men await trial for the capital offence of murder, one for attempted murder, two for rape, and one for wounding. In addition, one person has been on remand awaiting trial for more than four years, while another has been there for three years and four months. Both are on murder charges.
The first trial is set to commence today, Wednesday, October 22, 2025.
Meanwhile, during the June Berbice Criminal Assizes, some 63 cases were listed to be heard. Of these, State Counsel Cecilia Corbin has completed six matters before Justice Peter Hugh.  Of these six cases, four were for murder, and one each for the offences of manslaughter and sexual offence.
In three of the four murder matters, the accused all pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. One of these accused was indicted for two counts of murder and attempted murder; on the two counts of murder, he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to 11 years on each count.
These are to run concurrently. The accused also pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to nine years and two months. All sentences will run concurrently.
Two others were each sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment and seven years and six months after the court made deductions for mitigating factors. The one other murder case had two accused; while the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty for the number one accused, they found his co-accused unanimously guilty.
He was sentenced to 23 years of imprisonment. In the manslaughter trial, the jury failed to reach a verdict and returned hung; the accused was sent back to prison to await a new trial.
The accused in the one sexual offence matter was acquitted by a jury verdict. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) entered nolle prosequi in three matters; in two of these, the complainants did not wish to proceed. In another, the complainant had died.