Thirty-two-year-old taxi driver, Sahadeo Pooran, called “Omesh,” was yesterday morning sentenced to 21 years in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl back in 2019.
Justice Jo-Ann Barlow who imposed the sentence on a weeping and trembling Pooran said that the factors advanced in mitigation by his lawyer were not enough to evoke the court’s discretion for a lower sentence.
In tears, Pooran begged the judge for mercy, but Justice Barlow was keen on pointing out that there had been absolutely no remorse from the convict for what he had done to the child, which she said in turn, more importantly, demonstrated that he had not accepted responsibility for his actions.
Defence attorney Euclin Gomes had presented his client as being remorseful, and had gone on to say that if given the chance, Pooran would be grateful to express to the court himself how sorry he was for violating the child.
When given a chance to address the court, Pooran, between sobs, said that he was sorry; but when asked for what, promptly told the judge that it was because he was innocent and uncertain of “what will happen to me after today.”
He then sought to further clarify that he was also sorry because he would not be around to welcome his unborn child into the world and said that he was worried about what would happen to his child if he is not around.
As he continued his address, the by-now violently shaking Pooran who held his head in distress said that after 7½ years of marriage, his wife is now pregnant and he was sad that he would not get to see his baby when it is born.
As the sole breadwinner of his family, the convict then expressed concern as to how his wife would get by and also over the fact that he would no longer be around to care for his ailing parents who are also dependent on him.
“Please see with me,” Pooran urged the judge, even as he, like his attorney, called for mercy and the minimum possible sentence.
Gomes, too, had committed for the court’s consideration that his client was the sole breadwinner of his household, is expecting his first child and had no antecedents,.
Prosecutor Nafeeza Baig, however, advanced a number of aggravating factors she asked the court to consider, pointing out that not only was Pooran not sorry for what he had done to the child, but that the offence remains serious and very prevalent.
She advanced for consideration, too, that Pooran was an adult when he committed the act which has stained the child’s life and stripped her of her innocence and childhood.
Before handing down the sentence, Justice Barlow said that she had considered both the aggravating and mitigating factors, but found that there was nothing among the latter worthy of granting any deductions.
From the 21 years, she did, however, deduct 40 days which she said Pooran had spent or remand before his paper committal was concluded.
Highlighting the aggravating factors as she referenced the facts of the case, the judge said that as someone who often transported schoolchildren, Pooran breached the trust that the complainant would have reposed in him.
She said that what was further disturbing, was the fact that after the incident, Pooran would taunt the child and call her names whenever he saw her on the road; telling her that “she talks too much” and had even gone as far as making threats not only to her, but her family as well.
Justice Barlow informed the visibly uneasy Pooran that the offence carried a maximum of life in prison, but since she did not regard his case as being the “worst of the worst” she would instead commence at a base of 20 years.
The judge said that it could not also go unnoticed by the court, Pooran’s age at the time and that of the complainant as well, even as she, too, stressed the seriousness and prevalence of the offence.
Justice Barlow said that the manner in which he confined the child, the steps he took to conceal his act by telling her to be dishonest and the stain the entire ordeal has left on the child were all aggravating factors which cumulatively far outweighed the mitigating ones for which no credit or deduction could be given.
The judge particularly lamented Pooran’s lack of remorse, not only as referenced by the probation report, but as evidenced by his address to the court.
The judge opined that he was clearly only sorry for himself, and the uncertainty of what would happen to his family and unborn child, which she said were not factors she could consider at this time.
On account of the aggravating factors, the judge made the one year addition to the base-sentence, deducting only the 40 days he had been on remand.
It was further ordered by the court that Pooran undergo counselling tailored for sex offenders, and admonished him to make use of those and other rehabilitative programmes offered by the prison service.
The judge also stressed the importance of continued counselling and support for the complainant, as well as her mother who the court said it observed from the probation report is suffering and also having a difficult time coping with what has happened to her daughter.
Pooran had been convicted by a jury earlier this month, but his sentence was deferred to facilitate a probation report and impact statement from the now 15-year-old complainant.
With the court and both sides having reviewed the reports and no clarifications needed, neither of the reports were read.
The prosecution’s facts are that on the day in question the child was on her way to get a taxi which usually takes persons out of her community to a main road from where they would then be able to access minibuses.
As the child made her way to the car turnpike that morning, the court had heard that Pooran stopped his car and offered her a lift free of cost.
She went into the front seat and he subsequently picked up two other passengers, but after dropping them off at their destinations, he took the 12-year-old to a house that was unknown to her where he raped her.
The case was heard at the Georgetown Sexual Offences Court.
