Four years in custody for man who killed two persons as a juvenile.

A man, who was a juvenile when he killed two persons, has been sentenced at the court’s pleasure to four years’ in custody for the crimes, minus the time he has already served. 

The sentence was imposed on Thursday by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the High Court in Berbice.

He was charged with the murders when he was 16.

In accordance with the Juvenile Justice Act, notwithstanding that he is now an adult, he is afforded certain protections because he committed the crime while a juvenile. As such, his name, address, other particulars, and photographs are prohibited from being published.

Still in his teens now, he was indicted for the murders of Vivekanand Narpatty, 71, and his employee Harry Prashad which occurred between December 19 and 27, 2019. However, upon his arraignment earlier this month, he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

During his sentencing hearing, Justice Morris-Ramlall ordered that after he completes serving the sentence, he will be placed on probation for three years and has to report every month to the Chief Probation Officer, who he must inform of any change in his address.

The Judge ordered that the young man, upon his release from custody, must try to secure gainful employment and must not leave the country unless he gets permission from the court.

He was placed on a bond to keep the peace and to be of good behavior while on probation and to perform community service for one hour weekly for six months.

Non-compliance with these court orders will permit the State to make an application to have his sentence reviewed, with a view of changing same.

According to reports, the men’s decomposing bodies were found in Narpatty’s hotel at Number 63 Village, Corentyne, Berbice, with some of their body parts hacked off.

The two men were reportedly found bound and gagged with injuries on their bodies in the dining area in the upper flat of the two-storey concrete building by Police ranks.

The entire building was ransacked.

The businessman’s body was found with two toes from his left foot severed and Prashad was found with both hands tied behind the back onto a post in the balcony and the left foot completely severed from the ankle, the Police had said in a statement.

Narpatty had migrated from Guyana to Canada but had visited home frequently. In fact, Narpatty had returned to Guyana on September 20, 2019, and had been residing at his hotel.