Appeal Court reduces killer’s prison sentence

The Guyana Court of Appeal on Thursday reduced the prison sentences of a convicted killer.
Back in 2017, Abdul Budhoo was found guilty by a 12-member jury of killing his cousins Shaheed and Imran Bacchus. On September 30, 2012, at Industrial Area, Mackenzie, Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), there was an argument between Budhoo and his cousin Shaheed over a debt. Shaheed’s brother Imran intervened during which Budhoo stabbed them.
Budhoo was sentenced to 62 years in prison for the murder of Shaheed. Though indicted for the murder of Imran, Budhoo was found guilty by a jury by a margin of 11 to one of the lesser count of manslaughter and sentenced to 32 years in jail.
The trial Judge had ordered that the sentences be served concurrently. Budhoo subsequently appealed his convictions, which he argued were unsafe because the Judge did not sufficiently direct the jury on key aspects of the law.
As for his sentences, he argued they were excessive and not in keeping with established sentencing guidelines.
After much deliberation on the case, the Appeal Court, led by acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, dismissed the convict’s arguments that his convictions were unsafe. In doing so, the Court affirmed both convictions.
However, his sentence on each charge was reviewed. On the murder charge, the 62-year prison sentence imposed by the trial Judge was set aside. A sentence of 25 years and seven months was instead imposed by the Appeal Court. Budhoo’s 32-year jail term for manslaughter was also set aside. The Court of Appeal imposed a sentence of 20 years and seven months. The sentences were determined after the appellate court credited the convict for the time he spent in pre-trial custody.
The Court of Appeal also ordered that the sentences run concurrently. Budhoo was represented by Attorney-at-Law Mark Conway, while State Counsel Teshana Lake appeared for the State. (G1)