Alvin Gounga was yesterday sentenced to 11 years in jail after pleading guilty to unlawfully killing his father-in-law, whom he wounded with an arrow and bow during an altercation in 2005.
Gounga, called “Captain,” who was set to face a retrial after a jury was unable to arrive at a verdict for a murder charge against him late last year, yesterday pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.
He accepted that on May 14, 2005, at Five Star Backdam, Port Kaituma, North West District, he unlawfully killed Desmond Henry.
When given a chance to speak, Gounga, in a barely audible tone, said that he was sorry for what had happened.
The guilty plea was accepted by Justice Navindra Singh, who later handed down the sentence at the High Court in Georgetown.
Defence attorney Dexter Todd said that his client, who was just about 22 years old at the time of the killing, was known to his community to be a hard worker and had no previous brushes with the law.
Todd told the court that while in prison, Gounga lost his only child by unfortunate circumstances. He said that his client has had time to reflect and has expressed remorse to his wife’s family for the death of her father.
Counsel opined that Gounga, who has been taking advantage of all the rehabilitative programmes offered by the prison, would be able to make meaningful contributions if given the chance to return to society.
Prosecutor Tuanna Hardy reminded that a life was lost and asked the court to impose a sentence commensurate with the convict’s actions.
Justice Singh told Gounga, that from reviewing the depositions, both he and Henry were partly responsible for the unfortunate events of the fateful day. The judge noted that for the most part, the deceased seemed to be the aggressor.
In a caution statement, which was admitted into evidence during the convict’s first trial, he said that he fatally shot Henry with the arrow and bow in self-defence.
The court had heard at that time of Gounga confronting his reputed wife over an issue concerning stolen pieces of gold.
The court had further heard that as he attempted to walk away from the confrontation, Henry intervened and threatened to kill him. The issue did not end there and Gounga in his statement said that as he turned to walk away, Henry threw a pitchfork at him. When this failed, he said his father-in-law then picked up a nearby axe and attempted to chop him. This, Gounga said, caused him to use his arrow and bow to shoot the man in “self-defence.”
Justice Singh, however, noted that a life had been taken. After considering the factors advanced by both the prosecution and defence, Gounga’s guilty plea and his show of remorse, the judge sentenced him to 11 years behind bars.
The court ordered that the prison make the necessary deductions for the time the convict would have so far spent on remand, awaiting trial.
The judge said that from the penal file, it seems some six years are to be deducted, but he left the deductions to be made by the relevant prison authority.
The judge extended best wishes to Gounga and admonished him to remain involved in the programmes offered by the prison and to control his temper, while noting that he could very well find himself being eligible for parole as early as next year.
The state was represented by Hardy, in association with Prosecutor Siand Dhurjon.
