Admitting before High Court Judge Navindra Singh that he killed his neighbour in 2009 during a drunken fight, 47-year-old Godfrey Dass was this morning sentenced to 14 years behind bars for the crime.
Dass was arraigned at the High Court in Georgetown where he was indicted for the murder of Kenneth Kennedy.
He opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, admitting that, on June 5, 2009 at Port Kaituma, he unlawfully killed Kennedy. State Prosecutor Teriq Mohamed told the court that, on the day in question, the two men were consuming alcohol when an argument ensued between them. According to the prosecutor, the argument later escalated into a physical fight and Dass armed himself with a knife which he used to stab Kennedy to the head.
During a plea in mitigation, attorney-at-law Mark Conway begged the court to be lenient with Dass. Conway told the court that his client is extremely sorry for what he had done. Further, the lawyer told the court that during his almost 10 years of incarceration, Dass had been attending church. Before Dass was whisked away to commence serving his jail time, he was advised by Justice Singh to stay away from alcohol when he gets back into society.
Justice Singh further ordered that the prison authorities deduct the almost 10 years Dass spent in pre-trial custody from his sentence. Apart from Mohamed, Abigail Gibbs and Tuanna Hardy also appeared for the prosecution.
