Nandalall Ruplall was yesterday sentenced to a 12-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to killing his father.
Justice Roxane George imposed the sentence at the High Court, after Ruplall, who had pleaded not guilty to murder, entered a guilty plea to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
Working with the figure of 18 years, the judge took off four years for the time he spent in prison, one year for his guilty plea as he did not waste the court’s time in proceeding with the trial, and another year for the mitigating plea made by his attorney.
Sonalall Ruplall, a carpenter of Lot 3 Rosetta, Canal Number One, West Bank Demerara, died in July 2008, two days after he was hit on his head by his son. Both men were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
Ruplall, who was represented by attorney Peter Hugh, told the court that he was sorry for what happened after he was asked by Justice George if there was anything that he would like to say before sentencing.
Hugh, in his mitigating plea to the court, made various arguments as it pertained to the age of his client at the time of the incident as well as the fact that both parties were under the influence of alcohol.
State prosecutors Rhondel Weever and Natasha Backer began the trial after concluding a voir dire (trial within a trial) on Wednesday that saw Justice George admitting the oral and written statement of the accused as evidence. In the caution statement, he admitted to lashing his father in the head.
In his caution statement, Ruplall told police that his father was lying in the hammock when he went home drunk and began cursing because his father did not give him any food. He said that his father got up from the hammock and picked up a piece of wood, which he used to lash him across the ribs.
As a result, Ruplall said he in turn picked up a piece of wood from the fireside and lashed his father in the head. He said his father then fell to the ground and he subsequently went to a camp and sat down with his friends gaffing.
Ruplall’s mother, Yamattie, testified in the trial, telling the court that she heard her son and husband arguing downstairs about food while she was upstairs. She said when she went downstairs after hearing the argument she found her husband lying on the ground.
