Bevon Griffith who in a drunken attack killed Sophia resident Celwin Mark Allen on Christmas night back in 2017, was yesterday sentenced to 18 years behind bars and will serve around eight years after deductions for his guilty plea and the period he spent on remand.
Griffith also known as ‘Kevin’ and ‘Spoony’, a mason formerly of 197 Pike Street, Kitty, Georgetown was initially indicted for murder; but at his arraignment back in October, pleaded to the lesser offence of manslaughter.
In handing down the sent ence, Justice Jo-An Barlow said that relying on legal precedent and the particular facts of the case, she found a range of 17 to 20 years—with a starting point of 18 to be appropriate.
She had previously noted as aggravating factors; the sharp object used by Griffith to inflict the injuries, Allen having been unarmed and also the fact that after initially injuring the deceased, Griffith advanced toward him a second time in an altercation which she said did not even concern him.
The Judge said she also considered the seriousness of the offence and what she said has become a prevalent resort to violence by persons under the influence of alcohol.
Justice Barlow said she also noted the mitigating factors presented by defence attorney Ravindra Mohabir, but said that apart from deductions for the offender’s early plea and time spent on remand, no further credit could be given to him.
On this point the Judge said she did not find Griffith’s purported show of remorse to have been genuine.
She noted, too, statements submitted by relatives of the deceased who related the impact that losing him has had on their lives.
Other mitigating factors outlined which the Court noted were not considered, were Griffith’s good prison behaviour, being 20 years old at the time the offence was committed and also not having any previous brushes with the law.
Meanwhile, Mohabir had advanced that his client was genuinely sorry for his actions on that fateful night for which he had accepted full responsibility. He said, too, that the young man had provided a caution statement to the police and had fully cooperated with the investigations.
Justice Barlow, however, interjected on this latter point, noting that it had always been Griffith’s story that he was under the influence at the time of the killing.
In his brief address to the court, Griffith reiterated being drunk at the time of the killing which according to him would not have otherwise occurred.
He then told Allen’s family that he was sorry for their loss and that “it was not a wilful act,” even as he begged the Judge for mercy and a second chance to return to society.
Justice Barlow imposed the 18-year sentence from which she deducted 1/3 for his guilty plea and a further three years, 11 months for the period he had spent on remand.
While noting his successful completion of an anger management course while in prison, the judge further ordered that Griffith be provided with any further counselling services to curb his resort to violence after consuming alcohol.
Allen, called `Marcus’, 35, was stabbed by Griffith while on his way home.
At the time he was in the company of his fiancée, Nalydiaa Henry. Henry had sustained stab wounds and was beaten with a piece of wood on her left shoulder, head and neck.
The couple was attacked around 7.30 pm on the night in question though a street in ‘C’ Field Sophia popularly known as `Fine Man Street’.
According to a police press release, investigations had revealed that Allen and Henry were attacked and stabbed multiple times by Griffith, who was armed with a knife.
“It was reported that the deceased (Allen) shortly before the incident, interfered with a friend of the suspect who rebuked him and not satisfied inflicted the fatal injuries on Allen and also wounded Henry who went to his assistance”, the statement had explained.
