The 45-year-old man who admitted to chopping his wife to death in a 2016 attack at the Bygeval Secondary School was yesterday sentenced to 22 years in prison for manslaughter and eight years for wounding his wife’s cousin, Brenda Thomas.
Athlone Pitt had been arraigned for murdering his wife Candacy Pitt on June 1st 2016 at the Bygeval Secondary School at Mahaica, East Coast Demerara.
When the matter was called yesterday for sentencing before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow, the state’s case which was put forward by Prosecutor Sarah Martin was that the man became angry after an argument with his wife and went to his wife’s place of work on the day in question armed with a knife and cutlass after he had drunk alcohol.
The prosecutor further noted that the man after committing the act went to the Police station and told the police what he had done. According to a post-mortem report, Candacy died as a result of a number of injuries about her body which included chop wounds to the neck which ruptured blood vessels and chop wounds to the arm which broke the bone and left the arm hanging by a piece of skin.
According to a probation report which was presented in court, prior to the incident Pitt worked as a truck driver and carpenter and according to his family members was not a violent person. He was further described as a hardworking man and provider for his family. Prior to the incident it was noted that the man had quit his job and sold all his equipment and began drinking alcohol which caused persons to believe that he was suffering from a psychological breakdown. During the said time he had also expressed his intention to commit suicide on multiple occasions.
The report further noted that Pitt had met Candacy in 2003 and for the first seven years of the relationship it appeared to be a loving one. The report went on to state that the man had heard rumours of his wife cheating on him which caused him to become violent towards her. Family members of the deceased had detailed that the woman had told them on numerous occasions about the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her husband but had never made any reports to the police.
The probation report further said that the accused had admitted that after hearing rumours of his wife being unfaithful that he had committed the act as he became clinically depressed and was also negatively influenced by friends.
During a plea in mitigation, Pitt’s attorney, Adrian Thompson, told the court that his client was very remorseful for his actions and that Pitt did not waste the court’s time and came to the realisation of what he had done and sought lenience from the court. Thompson noted that since Pitt had been incarcerated in June 2016, he has been sympathetic and regretful and while in prison he has turned his life back to Christ and has even been referred to as ‘Pastor’ by fellow prisoners.
As Pitt stood in the prisoners dock in the courtroom to speak he became emotional. The man apologized for his actions and extended apologies to family members of his wife while asking for their forgiveness.
Justice Barlow stated that the court cannot use alcohol as an excuse to give a short sentence as it had already been used to reduce the charge from murder to the lesser count of manslaughter. The judge noted that examination of the post-mortem report revealed that there were injuries to the hips, arms, neck, face, back and shoulder including one which severed the woman’s arm and left it hanging by a piece of skin. Justice Barlow noted that the court also examined the probation report which noted that in the months leading up to the incident there were behavioral changes and that the court has assessed all of the circumstances in the matter. She further stated that in this case there is an aggravating factor which is the degree of force used to inflict the injuries on the woman.
The judge said that based on that factor an appropriate starting sentence would be 30 years. The sentence was further reduced by eight years as he had entered an early plea and after committing the act he had gone to the police and turned himself in. Barlow further directed that the time which he spent in custody be deducted from the prison sentence. She then added an eight-year sentence after he had also pleaded guilty to the felonious wounding charge. The eight-year sentence will run concurrently with the sentence for manslaughter. The judge further ordered that the man be exposed to counseling tailored for persons convicted of offences where death resulted because of domestic disputes. She also ordered that he be subject to counseling tailored for persons who are suffering from or have suffered from depression or any other psychological issues.
Justice Barlow told persons who were present in the courtroom that the court had found disturbing that in the probation report persons detected the behavioral change in Pitt but did nothing. She noted that depression and psychological issues are no longer matters that one can observe and be quiet about as she implored persons to return “to the days when we were our brothers’ and our sisters’ keeper”.
“If someone is expressing suicidal thoughts and exhibiting symptoms of depression, someone must say something so that something can be done” Justice Barlow said. She also said that if the accused had determined that the relationship could no longer work he could have walked away. Justice Barlow further said “If we see something, we say something and if we can do something, we do something”.
