A Corentyne fisherman was yesterday sentenced to eight years in prison after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the High Court in Berbice.
Henry Trim, 36, of Number 60 Village, Corentyne, was originally charged with the murder of Ravi Kumar Sharma, 25, also a fisherman, who was killed in December, 2016. He admitted to the lesser count of manslaughter before Justice Brassington Reynolds.
In giving a summary of the facts, Prosecutor Abigail Gibbs stated that on November 28th, 2016, the two men were drinking when at some point Sharma took a DVD player belonging to Trim and a row ensued as a result. She said that the deceased then hit Trim with a piece of wood and in retaliation Trim picked up a cutlass and dealt the deceased several chops and then left. Trim eventually turned himself over to police.
According to a probation report presented to the court, Trim described himself as very respectful, hardworking and peaceful.
The report noted that persons within his home community described him as mannerly and someone who did not get into conflicts with persons.
On the other hand, it was noted that Trim had to rescue Sharma’s mother from him because he was violent, which was compounded by the fact that he used illicit drugs.
Further, the report said “it was opined by one resident that the deceased was viewed as a threat to the community as persons were afraid of him because of the things he did, [as a result] this caused the villagers to ensure that their gates and houses were tightly secured”.
The report also noted that residents described the deceased as a “troublemaker,” who was violent towards his mother.
In addition to this, the New Amsterdam Prison described Trim as a “disciplined and quiet individual” and stated, that he was never involved in any conflict with any inmates while incarcerated.
Trim’s attorney, Ravindra Mohabir, asked that the court take into account Trim’s early guilty plea and the time he spent on remand. He also highlighted the fact that Trim had no previous matter on record and what residents of his community and the prison authority said of his character.
Based on the evidence, he said, there is nothing pointing to premeditation by Trim, who was “simply defending himself and his property against the deceased’s violent attack.”
Trim himself had lacerations to his head and was examined at the Skeldon Hospital, the lawyer pointed out, while adding that it showed that the deceased attacked Trim.
“In light of that, please, your honour, I respectfully submit that there is hope of rehabilitation,” the attorney argued.
Meanwhile, Justice Reynolds said he first considered a sentence between 10 and 25 years.
However, he noted that it was clear that Trim was a victim of an inadequate education although he observed that to his credit the man tried to improve himself while in prison. The court heard that Trim learned to write his name while on remand at the New Amsterdam Prison.
The judge noted that because of excessive force used in the circumstance, he arrived at a starting point for sentencing of 17 years and six months.
As a result of Trim’s early guilty plea, he deducted five years. He also deducted four years for the time spent on remand and six months for “your very glowing probation report, the efforts you’ve made to improve your own education while in prison, the fact that you cooperated with the police and my belief, as your lawyer suggested, that there is some hope for rehabilitation.”
Additionally, the judge told the accused that it was unfortunate that he found himself in a confrontation with someone of the character of Sharma and that having used alcohol he was not in a position to better judge the situation. “It is my hope that you would use the time you have left in prison to get proper counselling and to continue to educate yourself,” he added.
