High Court Judge Navindra Singh today imposed an eight-year prison term on 21-year-old Linden Williams, who appeared before him and pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Initially charged with the January 1, 2015 murder of his friend Errol Campbell, Williams pleaded guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter when he appeared at the High Court in Demerara.
Reports indicate that Campbell was attacked by Williams and another man. An argument ensued between the parties and Campbell was stabbed to death.
During a plea in mitigation, attorney-at-law Dexter Todd asked the court to consider that his client was only 17 when the incident occurred. According to Todd, his client has made every attempt to qualify himself while in prison.
In his address to the court, Williams said he was sorry for what he did. The killer extended an apology to Campbell’s relatives, some of whom were present in court today.
In arriving at a sentence for Williams, Justice Singh considered his youthful age and the fact that he had made attempts to reform himself while incarcerated.
From the eight-year sentence, Justice Singh made an order that the prison authorities deduct the time Williams spent in pretrial custody.
