“Stoke Mouth” sentence reduced from life to 12 years for rum shop killing

23-year-old Deosarran Bisnauth, who was handed a life sentence back in 2017 for fatally beating a man with a piece of stick, was on Monday sentenced to 12 years imprisonment by the Court of Appeal. Following a trial before Justice Navindra Singh, Bisnauth was found guilty of manslaughter over the unlawful killing of Robert Mangal called “Trevor.” He was initially indicted for murder.

Information from the court revealed that he was just 16 years when he committed the crime. The killing occurred on July 6, 2013, at Enmore, East Coast Demerara. According to the facts of the case, Bisnauth went to a liquor shop in the area inquiring about monies someone had owed him.

It was then that Mangal walked up to him with a bottle. Bisnauth, in turn, hit the now dead man several times to the back of the head with a piece of wood. The injured man fell to the group and was later rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

His cause of death was given as cerebral haemorrhage. During the trial, Bisnauth claimed that he acted in self defence since Mangal attacked him. During its ruling on Monday, the Appeal Court allowed the appeal on the aspect of the sentence. The court held that Bisnauth should not have been sentenced to life given his age at the time of the commissioning of the offence.

“This is not the worse of the worst cases,” Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards underscored. Having regards to the circumstances, the Appeal Court sentenced Bisnauth to 12 years imprisonment and ordered that the prison authorities are to deduct the time spent in pre-trial custody in keeping with the principles outlined in the CCJ case of Romeo Da Costa Hall vs The Queen.

In the event any years remain following the deduction, they are subject to review by the Chief Justice. Apart from the Chancellor, Justices of Appeal Dawn Gregory-Barnes and Rishi Persaud also deliberated on this case.