Justice Navindra Singh yesterday sentenced a farmer to nine years in prison after he admitted to killing his drinking partner during an argument.
Martin Salvadore, 54, in the courtroom of Justice Singh, pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He had initially been charged with murder.
The state’s case was presented by prosecutors Teriq Mohamed, Abigail Gibbs and Tuanna Hardy, while the accused was represented by attorney Mark Conway.
The charge against Salvadore stated that on October 16, 2014, at Nappi Village, Central Rupununi, he murdered Wilson James.
In a plea of mitigation to the court, Conway said that his client has been a
frequent attendee at church services while incarcerated.
According to the facts on the case, on the day of the incident, the accused and James, who were friends, were consuming alcohol when an argument developed. James became annoyed, armed himself with a bicycle bar and approached Salvadore. The accused then armed himself with a cutlass and dealt the now deceased man several chops about his body.
James was later picked up in an unconscious state and rushed to the Lethem Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
Considering the defendant’s early guilty plea, Salvadore was sentenced to nine years behind bars. The judge also ordered that the time already spent awaiting his hearing at the High Court be deducted from the sentence by the prison authorities.
