CCJ resentences brothers who killed Robb St granny to life in prison

Orwin and Cleon Hinds—the two brothers convicted of the murder of 71-year-old Clementine Fiedtkou-Parris, who was gunned down at her Robb Street, Georgetown residence in 2011—have been resentenced to life in prison by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
The Trinidad-based court, on Tuesday, issued its written decision for upholding the siblings’ conviction on October 11, 2022, hours after it had heard oral argument in their appeal.
After delivering that oral decision, it had promised to issue its reasons for doing so at a later date and had reserved its ruling on the brothers’ appeal against their 50-year sentence that was imposed by the Court of Appeal (CoA) of Guyana.

Following a trial for the capital offence in 2015 before Demerara High Court Judge Navindra Singh, the pair along with Roy Jacobs and another man, Kevin October, who passed away in jail, were found guilty and each jailed for 81 years with the possibility of being paroled after 45 years but had their sentences reduced to 50 years by the local appellate court in April of last year. That court had found that their original sentence was manifestly excessive.
The brothers then appealed to the CCJ, which found that the guilty verdicts in their favour were primarily based on the brothers’ written and oral confessions, and particularly in relation to Orwin, on the evidence of an eyewitness who identified him on an identification parade.
In its decision, the regional Court recalled the written statements of the brothers which set out the plan to kill Fiedtkou-Parris, the persons who were involved in that plan, how and where the killing was carried out, and by whom and the events which transpired after the killing, including the payment of money to the brothers. Thus, the court found that there was nothing in the siblings’ grounds of appeal which could undermine the value and weight of their statements.
On the issue of sentencing, the CCJ noted that the murder committed by the brothers fell into the class of the “worst” murders, under Section 100 (1) of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act.
“Murders are placed in the class of the ‘worst murders’ or the ‘gravest kind of murder’ because they are far more violative of society’s peace and order. Any person guilty of this class of murder is, pursuant to Section 100 (A) (1) (a), subject to either death or imprisonment for life,” it reasoned.
Where life imprisonment is imposed, the CCJ pointed out that Section 100 (A) (3) of the Act states that the court must specify a period which that person must serve before becoming eligible for parole, and in the case of the “worst” murders, that period should be not less than 20 years.
In noting the requirements of the Act, the CCJ found that courts have no power to impose any determinate period, as was done by Justice Singh, that purported or was intended to exceed the sentence fixed by the Act. Also, the apex court held that courts cannot fail to set a minimum period that must be served before a person could become eligible for parole.
As such, the CCJ held, “the 50-year sentence imposed by the Court of Appeal which did not specify the period after which the appellants would be eligible for parole must be set aside.” The CCJ, therefore, resentenced each of the brothers to imprisonment for life with eligibility to be considered for parole after 20 years including time spent detained while awaiting trial.
The convicted killers were represented by Attorney-at-Law Arudranauth Gossai and the State by Assistant Directors of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Teshana Lake and Diana O’Brien. The Bench comprised CCJ President Adrian Saunders, and CCJ Judges Jacob Wit, Andrew Burgess, Denys Barrow, and Marueen Rajnauth-Lee.
The charge the men had faced detailed that, on the night of June 30, 2011, at Lot 42 Robb Street, Georgetown, they murdered Fiedtkou-Parris pursuant to an arrangement wherein money was intended to be passed from one person to another.
It was reported that three men had gone to the woman’s home asking for “Auntie”, and when she emerged from her bedroom, one of them pulled out a gun and shot her several times to her upper body. The men then fled the scene in a waiting motor car while the elderly woman was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where she was pronounced dead. It is believed that a bitter dispute over a property might have been the motive for her killing.