Labourer gets 16 years for “senseless killing” of Coldingen fisherman in 2020

On Thursday, Vivekanand Ramroop — who had earlier entered a guilty plea to a charge of murder — was slapped with a 16-year prison sentence, less time already served on remand.
The 24-year-old had the punishment imposed on him by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall in the Demerara High Court when the case was called.
In January 2020, Ramroop, formerly of Lusignan, East Coast Demerara (ECD), confessed to killing Mukesh Mangra, 23, a fisherman of Coldingen, ECD.
Ramroop was represented by defence attorney Donette Anthony, while the State was represented by prosecuting attorneys-at-law Delon Fraser and Rbina Christmas.
A probation officer disclosed during Ramroop’s sentencing hearing that the now-dead man’s mother had described the dead man as loving and kind.
“I cry every day, especially when it is his birthday. My son used to take care of me. Since the death of my son, my life has not been the same,” the grieving mother said in her impact statement, which was read aloud by the prosecutor.
As a result of her son’s untimely demise, the woman related, she now struggles to maintain her family financially. She said that following her husband’s passing, Mangra had left school and started working to provide for their family.
Mangra’s mother demanded that Ramroop receive the harshest punishment possible, telling the probation officer that she has not forgiven him.
Meanwhile, defence counsel Donette Anthony submitted that her client has expressed remorse, and is filled with regret over the loss of a young life. She pleaded with the Judge to take sentencing guidelines into account while determining her client’s punishment in light of this.
“He has not sought to waste judicial time,” said Anthony as she alluded to Ramroop’s early guilty plea. Anthony stated that her client is an ideal candidate for rehabilitation because of his young age and his promise not to break the law again.
For her part, Prosecutor Christmas emphasized several aggravating elements in her arguments; such as the high frequency of violent murders, the gravity of the offence, and the use of a deadly weapon during the commission of the crime.

According to her, Ramroop had a “round of beers” with his friends after stabbing Mangra and leaving him for dead on the roadway. The prosecutor further declared the murder to be “unprovoked and premeditated,” pointing out that the fisherman was denied the chance to have a prosperous and fulfilling life.
According to Justice Morris-Ramlall, this is a situation where a person’s “young life” was “snuffed out” before they could realise their full potential. Ramroop and others, according to her, “hunted down” Mangra.
Citing the impact statement of the mother of the deceased, the Judge said a mother has lost her son as well as her caregiver and provider.
Judge Morris-Ramlall noted that she considered the convict’s early guilty plea to be “tactical” in light of the overwhelming evidence against him, but she nevertheless diverged from the customary one-third deduction for an early guilty plea when sentencing the man.
Ramroop’s youthful age and his sincerely remorseful attitude were factors that the Judge found favourable.
According to Justice Morris-Ramlall, the fisherman’s death was a “senseless killing”.
Mangra, also known as “Paul”, was found dead on the road in his community on the evening of January 18, 2020. He had two stab wounds to his abdomen and lacerations about his body.
The horrifying discovery was made by a painter riding his bicycle home. Mangra and Ramroop were not known to each other, court documents revealed.
The evidence showed that Ramroop was one of the men who attacked Mangra and stabbed him twice in the abdomen. The wounded man died a short time after being found bleeding on the road.
Approximately 50 feet from the body, a knife with a blue handle was found. It is unclear why the now-dead man was attacked.
Last month, Ramroop’s co-accused, Roy Jaglall of Annandale, ECD, was freed of murdering Mangra after a jury found him unanimously not guilty on a murder charge. Additionally, the panel voted 10-2 to find him not guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Attorney-at-Law Domnick Bess represented Jaglall.