Pensioner appeals 20-year sentence for raping 4-year-old girl

Gregory Ramkissoon, who was jailed for 20 years in 2019 for raping a four-year-old girl, has filed an appeal against his sentence. He argues that the sentence imposed by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall is severe in all the circumstances of the case.

Ramkissoon, called “Skeage”, had pleaded guilty to engaging in sexual penetration with the child on January 4, 2016, in the county of Demerara. It was reported that he caused the girl to perform oral sex on him.
The 65-year-old convict does not become eligible for parole until serving 15 years of the sentence. The Judge, in sentencing Ramkissoon, had considered the nature and gravity of offence, how the offence was committed as well as his early guilty plea.
In a Notice of Appeal filed at the Court of Appeal, the convict argues that the trial Judge erred in law when she failed to consider that the offence against him included lesser encompassing offences for which he had already been previously convicted in the Magistrate’s Court and had completed a sentence of imprisonment.
He further argues that the Judge erred in law by failing to consider whether he could benefit from an expanded version of the autrefois convict plea or whether she could exercise her discretion to stay proceedings or impose a less severe sentence.
He argues, too, that the trial judge failed to examine the possibility of ordering a probation report to consider other relevant factors when passing the sentence. Additionally, Ramkissoon contends that his then lawyer failed to mitigate the sentence adequately. As such, he believes he deserves a lesser sentence. (G1)