Mabaruma man gets 12 years for killing man over payment

Thirty-four-year-old Paul Michael Khan was on Tuesday sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by High Court Judge, Justice Brassington Reynolds, for unlawfully killing Chris Allicock on October 6, 2013 at Mabaruma, North West District in a dispute over money.

Khan was indicted for manslaughter and had appeared in court earlier this year but proceedings were stalled due to the State having requested that a medical evaluation be performed on him.
During Tuesday’s court appearance, Khan had some difficulty contemplating whether or not to plead guilty or not guilty.
However after some back and forth, Khan told the Judge that he did kill Allicock. State Prosecutor Seeta Bishundial told the court that Khan and the deceased were involved in a scuffle and Allicock was walking away when Khan picked up a brick and threw it at his head. He subsequently fell to the ground and died.
On that fateful day, Khan had related to his foster father what he had done and he took him to the Mabaruma Police Station. The offender later confessed to his crime to investigators. According to the post-mortem report, Allicock died from a ruptured spleen as a result of blunt trauma.
In handing down the sentence, the Judge considered that the killer spent five years on remand awaiting trial, showed genuine remorse, suffered from an absence of parental guidance, and has special needs. Khan was represented by State-assigned Attorney Clyde Forde.