Corentyne man jailed for 15 years for killing villager

A Corentyne, Berbice man, who admitted that he killed a fellow villager, was on Wednesday jailed for 15 years by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall in the Berbice High Court.
Vejai Rickbarran, of Williamsburg, Berbice, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), had previously pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter and had to return to court on Wednesday for sentencing.

Rickbarran admitted that he killed Muhamed Assad Abdul on October 29, 2017, at Williamsburg, Corentyne.
State Prosecutor Seeta Bissoondial told the court that on the day in question, Rickbarran walked into Abdul’s yard with a cutlass and started lashing the now-dead man’s wife. The prosecutor said that the woman shouted for her husband who went to her assistance but he was chopped several times and collapsed.
When Police arrived, Rickbarran handed over a rusty cutlass to them, telling them he did not know what overtook him to commit the act. Abdul was rushed to the hospital but died on October 3, 2017. Reports are the man’s 48-year-old wife was taking dry wood from the public road into her yard when Rickbarran charged towards her armed with a cutlass.
According to woman, she ran into her yard and her husband confronted Rickbarran, who chopped him.
The court heard that back in 2005, Rickbarran was a pillion rider when the motorcycle slammed into a house which was being transported on the road. The rider died on the scene and Rickbarran suffered head injuries and was hospitalised for several weeks.
Following that, he was being treated by the National Psychiatric Hospital.
When Rickbarran was placed before the court charged with murder, the court ordered a psychiatric evaluation. It was then determined that he was fit to stand trial.
Justice Morris-Ramlall initially said that she was imposing a 30-year sentence but reduced 15 years for mitigating circumstances including the three years he spent in prison.
Rickbarran was represented by Attorney-at-Law Chandra Sohan.