Selwyn Dawson and Kelvin Persaud who were on trial for the 2017 murder of Cayenne-based clothes vendor Purcell Moore, have changed their pleas and were yesterday handed life sentences.
Justice Sandil Kissoon ordered that they spend 15 years in jail before being considered for parole.
Mid-trial the men indicated through their attorneys that they no longer wanted to proceed, and pleaded instead to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
They were then re-arraigned and admitted that they, in the company of another, had unlawfully killed Moore after robbing him of his gold chain on the morning of December 20th, 2017, at Old Road, Craig, East Bank Demerara.
In their pleas for clemency, both young men said that they were sorry for their actions and apologized to Moore’s mother and other relatives who were present in court.
Dawson would go on to describe his action as a “mistake” and “sinful act” for which he apologised to Gloria Moore for the loss of her son; even as he sought her forgiveness.
In a victim impact statement, Moore recalled her son whom she says she misses dearly, as being thoughtful and caring. She fondly recounted him sending her on vacations and catering to her needs as a mother.
In tears she said that her son was good to her and that it breaks her heart and spirit when she looks at his photograph and has to embrace the harsh reality that he is no more.
Urging the judge to impose life sentences, Moore said that her son is also survived by a minor child who she and her husband assist in raising on their pension, which she said they sometimes find hard to do, even though other relatives pitch in.
She shared that the child’s mother works and so she takes care of her grandchild.
The woman said she would have never thought that her son would lose his life in such a manner.
In mitigating pleas, defence attorneys Adrian Thompson and Damian Da Silva who represented Dawson and Persaud respectively, begged the judge to be merciful to their clients, asking that their relative youth be considered.
They were both 21 years old at the time of the commission of the crime.
The lawyers submitted, too, that with no previous brushes with the law, the offenders have prospects of rehabilitation.
They had also asked the judge to consider the close to four years their clients have been on remand awaiting trial; though they did acknowledge that full credit could not be given for not having wasted the court’s time, since neither accepted responsibility for their action at the first given opportunity.
Citing the prevalence of the offence, however, and the need to send a strong message of deterrence to potential offenders, Prosecutor Lisa Cave asked the judge to impose a sentence which would reflect the nature and gravity of the offence.
She said that an innocent and unsuspecting Moore was pounced upon, robbed of his chain and in an unwarranted way, shot and killed just because he tried to protect his property.
“He was harmless and they shot him to his head and chest,” Cave lamented.
Justice Kissoon in his address to Dawson and Persaud whom he described as “young, strong and able-bodied,” said that they chose to conspire with another to rob a hardworking contributing member of society.
In his reprimand he told them that because of their action, parents have been deprived a son and a child deprived a father.
The judge said that citizens must be allowed to safely go about their daily lives, free from fear of such and other attacks; even as he referenced that the now-dead man would have thought that he was safe on that fateful day.
Justice Kissoon said it was sad that the man met such an end, after returning on vacation to his homeland and loved ones.
After considering the submissions from both the prosecution and defence, and referencing legal principles by which he said the sentences were guided, the judge sentenced both men to life in prison.
He, however, ordered that they serve no less than 15 years before being considered for parole.
During the trial last week, Detective Andre Higgins had testified to seeing Dawson and Persaud, whom he said he knew well from the community, fleeing the scene after the shooting.
The detective who lives in the area had told the court that he was alerted by the gunshots, and upon checking the source of the sound saw the two and another person robbing the man.
He had told the court that they each then got onto bicycles and fled the scene riding in his direction.
As they got closer to him, Higgins said he recognized the third person whom he said he also knows and identified by the name Wayne Chester called ‘Smokey,’ stuffing “a black firearm in his pants waist.”
He said that as the young men rode past looking at him and he at them; he said nothing to them nor did they say anything to him. He said they proceeded to the public road where he eventually lost sight of them.
Moore had arrived home in Guyana for vacation from Cayenne, French Guiana only a few days before he was shot and killed.
