Paul James, also known as ‘Crack,’ was this afternoon sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for the June 01, 2015 killing of Cane Grove, Mahaica, East Coast Demerara rice farmer, Hardat Kissoon.
James, 40, who was initially indicted for murder, opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter following his appearance before Justice Navindra Singh at the High Court in Demerara.
Justice Singh ordered the prison authorities to deduct from the sentence the time James spent on remand from October 2015. James was represented by Attorney-at-Law Adrian Thompson, while State Counsel Tuanna Hardy and Tyra Bakker appeared for the prosecution.
According to previous reports, Hardat was shot and killed while he was a passenger in a minibus that was travelling along with the University of Guyana Access Road, Greater Georgetown. The incident occurred shortly after the rice farmer withdrew $500,000 from a city bank.
After shooting him, the gunman grabbed the cash and escaped on a waiting motorcycle. James has since admitted that he was the “spotter” and that he alerted his accomplices after spotting Kissoon at the city bank. Two other men, Sherwin Trotman and Kirk Clarke, were also charged with Kissoon’s murder. However, both of them died when a fire destroyed the Camp Street Prison back in 2017.
