Currently facing several death sentences for his role in the February 2008 Bartica massacre in which 12 men, including three police officers were killed; Mark Royden Williams, called “Smallie,” was yesterday sentenced to hang.
This time it was for the shooting death of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) rank Ivor Williams—a month before the murderous rampage at Bartica—when his patrol came under heavy gunfire from the Rondell “Fine Man” Rawlins gang which at the time wreaked havoc along the East Coast corridor and other parts of the country.
“You shall be hanged by the neck until dead,” Justice Sandil Kissoon late yesterday afternoon told the convict who sat quietly with his face mask on at the Lusignan Prison, from where he joined the proceedings virtually.
There is a de facto moratorium in Guyana on the application of the death penalty.
“Shockingly brutal, horrific and premeditated” was the way the Judge described the events of the fateful night of January 23rd, 2008 when he said the Special Quadrant patrol of the GDF came under fire at Buxton— the epicentre for the gang at that time.
Referencing the testimonies of members of the military on patrol that night who described the scene as a “war zone,” Justice Kissoon said that the attack launched by the gang was designed to ambush the soldiers who were merely executing their lawful duty of providing security for residents along the East Coast corridor through constant patrols.
Justice Kissoon in paying homage to the fallen soldier said that he died only because of the uniform he wore and what he stood for, noting from the evidence adduced at trial, the single plan of the gang was “indeed to murder” the contingent of soldiers.
“They [the soldiers] were there only to preserve and uphold the law,” the Judge said.
Stating that he had found no mitigating factors and that the aggravating ones were overwhelming, the Judge said that for the killing of a serviceman, the death penalty was warranted, and that the crime fell into the “worst of the worst” category.
Describing the crime as “abominable,” the Judge said that apart from the antecedents which weighed heavily against the convict, the extremely violent and carefully planned nature of the attack which was unleashed, had to also be frontally considered.
The Judge told Williams that he chose a path of “violent criminal existence,” and that that was the life he thereafter pursued.
In all of the circumstances, the Judge imposed the death penalty on Williams who from the probation report presented to the court, maintained his innocence.
He did not address the Court, but his attorney Nigel Hughes begged for clemency on his behalf, specifically hoping that the death sentence would not have been imposed.
Following the conclusion of a trial, a jury back in July returned a unanimous verdict, finding Williams guilty as charged for murdering the Sergeant.
His sentencing had been deferred for the presentation of social impact reports.
The State was represented by prosecutors Taneisha Saygon and Muntaz Ali.
It had been reported that Williams who was 24 years old at the time, was shot in the left shoulder and the bullet exited the left side of his chest.
Two other persons were wounded in the shootout, which occurred between patrolling ranks of the GDF and gunmen.
An army patrol was making its rounds in the village of Buxton in the vicinity of the Railway Embankment when the ranks came under fire from a number of gunmen wielding assault rifles.
The soldiers returned fire and the exchange ensued.
Up to the time of Williams’ killing, the last casualty for the army by way of criminal elements had been in 2004, during a similar operation in Buxton.
Since the beginning of a crime spree in 2002 with the Mash-ramani Day jailbreak, over two dozen soldiers and police ranks lost their lives at the hands of criminals on the lower East Coast.
The police had been unable to control the situation, made worse with the 2006 disappearance of a large number of AK-47 rifles from Camp Ayanganna.
Williams is currently on death row after being convicted back in 2017 for his role in the 2008 Bartica massacre in which 12 men, including three police officers, were killed.
Williams and other accomplices, who were among the infamous gang led by Rondell Rawlins, were convicted and sentenced to death.
