Twenty-four-year-old Mahadeo Seewah, who admitted to killing a security guard while committing a robbery five years ago, was yesterday sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, but will serve half the time after mitigating factors were considered.
Seewah pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter before Justice Diana Insanally in the High Court yesterday.
Between April 22 and April 23, 2007, Seewah of Onion Field, La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara killed Banand Persaud at the Mon Repos Fresh Water Fish Farm. Seewah beat Persaud to death, dragged his body from a guard hut and dumped it in a trench.
Justice Insanally told the court before sentencing that there were no factors pointing to any provocation of the accused that would have caused him to do what he did. She said that to her mind it was the accused’s intention to kill and it was a premeditated act.
The prosecution, which was represented by Judith Gildharie-Mursalin and Diana Kaulesar, presented the facts of the case to the court after which a probation report on behalf of Seewah was presented. The prosecution stated that Seewah beat Persaud to death with a rake at his place of work. A generator and a battery charger were subsequently found missing from Persaud’s work place.
Defence counsel George Thomas begged the court to be merciful to his client in his mitigating plea. Seewah sat silently in the court and said nothing.
Before handing down sentence, Justice Insanally said that the facts of the case revealed an unprovoked act against Persaud and based upon the post-mortem examination report, several abrasions and lacerations were seen on the deceased. This, she stated, signalled that the accused had the intention to steal the generator and battery charger.
The judge also said that taking into consideration the probation report, Seewah was young at the time and was influenced by peers in the community into stealing. He was not involved in anything like this before, but she noted that this did not make the crime any less serious.
In his mitigation plea to the court, Thomas said that his client was just 17 years old at the time he committed the crime. Thomas also stated that his client was influenced by peers of questionable character, but this does not cast blame on his friends. He said “when a man is a child he acts like a child”.
The defence also told the court that a confession was extracted from Seewah who has considered his wrongs, is now begging the court for mercy and did not waste the court’s time. Thomas also noted that Seewah is on the road to rehabilitation and that it is a conviction of manslaughter and not murder. He said his client intended to change his life.
Outlining the mitigating factors, Justice Insanally said that Seewah entered a plea of guilty at an early stage and had not wasted the court’s time. She also added that he was remorseful, had submitted himself to rehabilitation and maybe has had time to reflect on his actions.
Based on these factors the judge said that 20 years imprisonment would be the starting point for the crime but 3 years were taken off for his guilty plea. The accused spent 5 years in custody, which were also deducted. The fact that Seewah was remorseful, his youthfulness and his attempts to rehabilitate himself were responsible for another 2 years being taken off. This brought the total amount of years deducted to ten. The ten years remaining will be the time Seewah will spend in prison for the crime.
