Convicted killer applies for leave to appeal 51-year jail sentence

Almost three years after he was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 51 years’ imprisonment, 23-year-old Dellon Henry recently applied to the Guyana Court of Appeal (CoA) for leave to appeal his conviction and sentence. He was found guilty in 2017 by a jury.
The statutory timeline for filing an appeal is 14 days after a conviction or dismissal/discharge. Henry has retained Attorney-at-Law Glenn Hanoman.
Henry, also known as “Nasty Man” was found guilty of the September 29, 2015 murder of East Ruimveldt, Georgetown footballer, Dexter Griffith, who was shot six times about the body in an area in his community called “Warlock”. It was Justice Sandil Kissoon who imposed the custodial sentence on Henry.

For the entirety of Henry’s trial, he professed his innocence and when it was time for him to have his say, he told the court that he was in jail from 2006 to 2014 as a teenager and that he had no knowledge of the Warlock area where Griffith was gunned down.
The murdered footballer’s brother, Keshawn Griffith, had testified that while in hiding, he had seen the defendant, Henry, firing a gun moments after his brother was shot. The now dead man’s mother, Lavern Griffith, had recalled running to the Warlock area from her home where she and other relatives saw the footballer lying in a drain.
It was reported in September 2015 that after being shot, Griffith had managed to stand and walk a short distance in an attempt to escape from Henry, but he eventually fell unconscious to the ground while his assailant escaped. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

In sentencing Henry, Justice Kissoon commenced at a base of 50 years, from which three years were deducted for the time the convict spent on remand pending trial. To the remaining 47 years, the Judge added four years for aggravating factors which included brutality, cruelty, and premeditation. The Judge also noted that a gun was used to commit the crime.