Fifty- three-year-old Raymond O’Selmo, called ‘Goadie Man’ formerly of North Sophia, Georgetown, was this morning sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the fatal stabbing of Nadina Kalamadeen, a mother of five.
O’Selmo was sentenced by Justice Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Demerara High Court. He was arraigned for the capital offence but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count which is manslaughter.
During the sentencing hearing, O’Selmo told the court that to this day, he still cannot recall what transpired the day Nadina was killed because he was intoxicated. Nevertheless, in his address to the court, he asked the deceased’s family to forgive him for what he has done and he also begged the court to be lenient with him when handing down his sentence.
In his plea of mitigation, O’Selmo’s lawyer Teriq Mohamed asked the court to consider that his client has opted to not waste the court’s time and pleaded guilty. He also noted that the fact that alcohol abuse was involved.
In this case, the State was represented by Prosecutors Mikel Pooran, Latifah Elliot and Carissa Henry.
According to the facts of the matter, on February 27, 2019, Nadina was walking on Second Street, North Sophia, Georgetown when O’Selmo approached her, attempted to hold her hand and follow her on the road.
In objection, Nadina pulled away her and the accused then took out a knife that he had in his pants and stabbed the woman several times about her body.
While stabbing the deceased, the accused was interrupted by some passersby who yelled at him. The court heard that this caused O’Selmo to flee the crime scene but he was chased and intercepted by public-spirited persons. He was reportedly beaten before he was handed over to the police.
According to the post-mortem examination (PME) Nadina died as a result of 6 stab wounds to her face, neck, cheek wrist and right and left breast.
The court heard that back in 1990, O’Selmo was jailed 15 years for raping a 12-year-old girl and in 2011 he was fined for discharging a loaded firearm.
In her sentencing remarks, Justice Sewnarine-Beharry took into consideration the aggravating factors, the nature and prevalence of the offence, as well as the fact that the use of alcohol impaired the accused judgment. She was also guided by the weapon that was used and the physiological trauma caused the mother of the deceased as well as her five children, three of whom are minors.
The judge took into consideration that early guilty plea and the fact that the accused is remorseful. She then sentenced O’Selmo to 10 years imprisonment and ordered that the four years he spent on remand be deducted as time served.
