A 24-year-old man who attacked another man and stabbed him several times has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for the offence of attempted murder. Anthony Persaud, who committed the offence when he was 18, pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared before Demerara High Court Judge Brassington Reynolds last month. He admitted to wounding Navindra Budhu on March 22, 2016, with the intent to murder him. Police investigations revealed that the men were not known to each other prior to the date of the incident.
Reports at the time were that at about 18:00h on the day in question, Budhu was walking on the University of Guyana (UG) Access Road at Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown when Persaud, who was on a bicycle, rode up beside him and attempted to push his hand in his pocket.
Jailed: Anthony Persaud
Budhu, however, punched Persaud in the face, causing him to lose two of his teeth. Persaud, who was bleeding profusely, then pulled out a pair of scissors from the waist of his pants and stabbed Budhu several times about his body.
The injured man was rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital by public-spirited citizens, while other persons detained Persaud until the Police arrived at the scene.
Budhu’s medical report revealed that he was stabbed six times. He also had to undergo surgery on his abdomen and one of his legs.
Back in March, Persaud’s Attorney-at-Law, Teriq Mohammed, had told the court that his client accepts that he inflicted injuries on Budhu, but has denied attempting to rob him. As a result of this, Justice Reynolds granted Prosecutor Simran Gajraj’s request to have a psychiatric evaluation conducted on Persaud.
During Friday’s sentencing hearing, Forensic Psychiatrist, Dr Meena Rajkumar deemed Persaud fit to stand trial. She, however, noted that his personality traits, immaturity, and paranoid elements “stand out”.
For his part, Budhu shared that the incident has left him traumatised. According to him, all he desired to do was to live a normal life but this was taken away from him because of the vicious attack. A probation officer who interviewed Persaud told the court that he denied that he had set out to rob the young man. In his address to the court, Persaud said that he “accidentally” rode into Budhu who, afterward, punched him in the face. As a result, he said, he stabbed the man.
Prosecutor Gajraj asked Justice Reynolds to consider the serious nature and prevalence of such offences while urging him to impose a sentence that will serve as a deterrent. She said that the sentence should send a strong message to like-minded individuals, that such acts of violence will not be tolerated by the court.
Meanwhile, Persaud’s lawyer said that his client has accepted the prosecution’s facts, adding that his guilty plea was not a “tactical one”. The lawyer reasoned that his client might have been able to make better decisions if he was educated.
For his part, Justice Reynolds told Mohammed that persons in worse situations than his client have gone on to make good of their lives.
In the end, Persaud was handed a six-year jail term. (G1)
