Wazim Bux was yesterday sentenced to nine years in jail for the fatal shooting of his lover’s husband.
Bux, a hunter of Kilcoy, Corentyne was sentenced by Justice Brassington Reynolds after pleading guilty to killing Ahmad Razack. Bux was originally indicted for the capital offence of murder but his plea to the lesser count of manslaughter was accepted by the state, with permission from the judge.
Justice Reynolds handed down the sentence after hearing a probation report on Bux and a plea of mitigation by him.
State Counsel Rhondel Weaver noted that Razack’s wife, who had a relationship with the accused, said that on January 24, 2008, at her mother’s home at Kilcoy Dam, Corentyne, Bux shot her husband and threatened to kill her. She said she managed to escape while he was attempting to reload his gun.
However, defence counsel Kim Kyte-John emphasised her client’s claim that he was obligated to defend his mistress, who could have been killed at the hands of her husband. “It was a life and death situation,” she said.
According to Kyte-John, Bux, who had an unblemished record prior to the incident, had already spent four years as a remanded prisoner and has paid his debt to society. Further, she argued that his incarceration had a negative effect on his family, since his wife left their three children in the care of his elderly parents.
A composed Bux, meanwhile, told the court that the shooting occurred after Razack found him and his wife together.
He said Razack, armed with a cutlass, fired chops at them, and he used his gun to block the blows. He said he eventually fired a shot to get the man to drop the cutlass. “I protected [her] and myself. I never intended to hurt or murder Razack as he was a good man,” he said.
Justice Reynolds subsequently settled on the nine-year sentence, while noting the positive nature of the probation report on Bux, his age, his lack of a previous criminal record, and his remorse. “I do hope… that you have learnt from what was a great mistake,” the judge told him.
