At 10 this morning, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will commence hearing the appeal of convicted rapist Linton Pompey who is currently serving a 37-year sentence for sexually assaulting a young girl.
Having lost his challenge to the conviction and sentence before the Guyana Court of Appeal last year, Pompey filed an appeal with the Trinidad-based CCJ—the court of last resort for Guyana.
In 2015 the father of 12 was convicted for the sexual penetration of a child under the age of 16 on January 10th, 2012 and between June 1st and June 30th, 2013, as well as for engaging in sexual activity with the minor between May 1st and May 31st, 2011. He was sentenced to 15 years and 17 years imprisonment on the first and second counts of rape, respectively and also to five years on the charge of sexual activity with the minor.
Following the conviction, he had moved to appeal his conviction and sentence, which he argued was harsh, while advancing that his trial had been unfair.
At the conclusion of the appeal, however, the local appellate court ruled that the convictions were supported by evidence. The court noted that the summation of the evidence done by the trial judge did not jeopardise the case in any way as had been contended by Pompey, who claimed that the judge had failed to sufficiently put his defence to the jury.
He had also argued that the consecutive sentences that had been imposed on him were excessive and were only warranted when there was evidence of extreme violence.
However, the court disagreed, while noting that the sentences given by the trial judge were appropriate considering that the offences had occurred on different occasions.
A similar point had been raised by state counsel Natasha Backer, who had argued that the sentences were not excessive given the nature of the offence.
She had also cited case law, which reasoned that consecutive sentences may be given if the offences occurred in unrelated acts, as in this case where Pompey had committed the acts on the girl on different days.
