Convict appeals life sentence for murdering man outside nightclub

Shawn Harris, called “Shawny” or “Brukup,” the 33-year-old man who was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering a man outside a nightclub on February 5, 2017, has moved to the Guyana Court of Appeal to challenge his conviction and sentence.

The former resident of Bougainvillea Park, East Bank Demerara (EBD) was convicted by a jury for the murder of Sunil Singh, otherwise known as “Grey”, and was handed a life sentence by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow with the possibility of being eligible for parole after serving 20 years thereof.
Dissatisfied with the decision of the jury, the convict has mounted an appeal in which he contends that his conviction cannot stand, given the quality of the evidence adduced at his trial. The father of three further argues that his sentence is excessive and severe in all the circumstances of the case.
Singh was fatally stabbed a short distance from the nightclub. He had attempted to rescue an employee who was being attacked by three men who wanted to enter the nightclub even though it was closed. This had led to an argument, and during the subsequent altercation, Harris had whipped out a knife and stabbed the employee. Singh had intervened, and while assisting the injured employee, was also stabbed about his body. Singh was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
This is Harris’s second conviction. He had previously served time in prison for drug trafficking. Also, he and three other men had been charged in connection with a 2016 robbery at the Bank of Baroda’s Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara branch. (G1)