Seventy-five year old Albert Andries was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Justice Dawn Gregory yesterday in the High Court for killing his step-son during an early morning fight in 2012.
Andries, who was on trial for the 2012 murder of the his step-son Lakeram Persaud at their home in Lincoln Street, Enterprise, East Coast Demerara, was sentenced after he was found guilty of the lesser count of manslaughter by a 12-member jury. After deliberation for two hours, the jury arrived at a unanimous decision that he was not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.
Persaud was stabbed in his chest with a knife during an argument with Andries. Justice Gregory, addressing Andries, said she had considered the fact that he was 75-years-old but the severity of the injuries and the size of the wounds indicated that there “was a lot of anger in the offence.”
“Lakeram Persaud was severely injured,” she said, before handing down her sentence.
Andries was then escorted by police from the prisoner’s dock and was heard telling Persaud’s mother, who was his common-law wife, “See yah!”
State witness Ramkumarie Manbahal had said that the two men were having disputes for years before the fatal confrontation in the bottom flat of their Enterprise home.
According to reports, Andries had changed his clothes after stabbing Persaud and walked out of the house, saying that he was heading to the police station. Neighbours, who were alerted by Manbahal’s screams, contacted the police so that as Andries was preparing to leave the yard he was held.
