DPP chambers appear in 25 appeals including child pornography case

…CCJ to hear Lusignan, Bartica Massacre Appeal on Oct 7

The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) appeared in 25 appeals before the Court of Appeal between June and September, with the matters involving a range of serious criminal offences.
According to the June 2026 Criminal Assizes press report from the Chambers of the DPP, the appeals involved offences including murder, sexual offences, causing death by dangerous driving, obtaining by false pretence, discharging a loaded firearm with intent, robbery under arms, larceny by bailee, felonious wounding, manslaughter and possession of narcotics.
During the period, there were 11 applications to appeal against conviction and sentence.
Six of those applications were dismissed, including two because the appellants had died. One appeal was allowed, resulting in the appellant’s murder conviction being quashed and substituted with the lesser offence of manslaughter. The appellant was subsequently resentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
Two other appeals were allowed in part. In those matters, the convictions were upheld, but the appellants were resentenced to 18 years for manslaughter.
One appellant withdrew his application, while another matter was adjourned to October 16 for a decision.
The DPP’s Chambers also dealt with six applications for extensions of time to file and serve notices of appeal. Three applications were denied, two were granted and one was withdrawn.
There were also eight applications for bail pending appeal. Four were granted, with bail set at $500,000, $650,000 and $1 million. The appellants who were granted bail were ordered to report to respective police stations and surrender their passports.
Of the remaining four bail applications, three were dismissed and one was withdrawn.

Child pornography
Meanwhile, the Demerara Full Court on Monday heard a matter involving an appeal against a conviction and sentence for possession of child pornography.
The Full Court upheld the conviction but varied the sentence from three years to two years imprisonment.
The DPP’s Chambers also reported that three appeals are currently before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), comprising two murder appeals and one sexual offence appeal, with decisions pending.
One of the murder appeals relates to the Lusignan and Bartica massacres. That matter is scheduled to be heard on October 7 when the CCJ sits in St Lucia.