With only six months left before he was due for release from prison, a convict was yesterday told he would have to serve an additional three years after a city court found him guilty of wounding another inmate.
Marlon Persaud, 28, was found guilty of unlawfully and maliciously wounding Wayne Gilbert on October 2, 2015, at the Camp Street Prison.
Persaud and Gilbert, according to the information provided by the prosecution, were both inmates of ‘Star Ward 2’ at the Camp Street Prison. On the day of the wounding, sometime after 5pm or 6pm, Persaud returned from road gang work and used his cutlass to chop Gilbert, while allegedly stating that he would kill him. As a result, Gilbert suffered multiple lacerations to the hand and foot.
Magistrate Judy Latchman, who presided over the trial, stated that she believed Gilbert when he said he had been chopped to the neck and shoulders by Persaud and that there was “irresistible evidence” that he intended to cause Gilbert harm.
She acknowledged the testimony of a prison officer who stated that Persaud had not had a weapon on him when he was searched upon his return from work. The officer, however, did not have records to confirm the exact time Persaud was released from his supervision after the search, and the magistrate decided not to rely solely on his memory in this regard.
She explained that she had taken into account the fact that Persaud was considered a model prisoner and therefore should have known better and used better judgment, as well as the fact that a cutlass was used during the altercation and Gilbert suffered injuries as a result. On these grounds, she found him guilty of the charge and sentenced Persaud to three more years in jail.
While being escorted from the courtroom, Persaud, upset over the ruling, shouted to the magistrate, “Ma worship, you’n goh no mercy!”
The victim, Gilbert, was one of two men who were caught and arrested by a licensed firearm holder in 2013, after they robbed a man in a Chinese Restaurant using a toy gun. They had relieved the victim of a BlackBerry smartphone and $100,000 cash. Gilbert was sentenced to five years in prison after he was found guilty at the end of the trial.
