Fifty-year-old Foster Gravesande was today sentenced to 56 years behind bars for the 2017 murder of his neighbour.
Gravesande of Mahaica, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was sentenced by Justice Navindra Singh in the High Court.
He had pleaded not guilty to the indictment, which stated that on April 9, 2017, he murdered 49-year-old Courtney Porter. However, on December 10, 2020, a 12-member jury found the 50-year-old man guilty.
Reports are that Porter, a father of three, was reportedly beaten in the head with a piece of wood by Gravesande, who had accused him of pulling his wife’s clothes.
Following the incident, Porter was hospitalised, and his attacker was charged with attempt to commit murder and released on bail. Porter succumbed two weeks after the beating. Gravesande subsequently fled the area and was captured in another policing division.
The murder convict was represented by Attorney-at-Law Dexter Todd, while the State was represented by prosecutor Teriq Mohammed.
When the matter was called this morning for sentencing, Gravesande begged for mercy.
Notwithstanding, Prosecutor Mohammed noted that the act was senseless given that the convicted murderer and the deceased were friends. In fact, he cited the probation report, in which community members revealed that Gravesande never had a good attitude.
Justice Singh agreed with Prosecutor Mohammed that the act was senseless. In fact, he said that Gravesande showed no remorse.
As such, he started his sentence at a base of 60 years but deducted four years for the time the convict spent on remand.
The judge ordered that Gravesande only becomes eligible for parole after serving 28 years in jail.
