It was his third trial for the same offence, but 26-year-old manslaughter accused Wazim Mohammed called ‘Junior’ of Mara, East Bank Berbice, was unlucky this time around, as he was found guilty yesterday by a mixed jury sitting in the Berbice High Court and sentenced to 10 years in jail by Justice Dawn Gregory.Mohammed was convicted for killing his one-time friend Russell Nelson,nfl jerseys china, 62, called ‘Josie’ of Fyrish,Cheap Sports Jerseys, Corentyne, Berbice, on the 27th September 2005 at Fyrish.10 years in jail: Wazim Mohammed called ‘Junior’The accused bowed his head as the jury returned with the unanimous verdict of guilty of manslaughter and the judge handed down the sentence.Justice Gregory took the morning session to sum up the evidence to the jury who then retired and took about two hours to return with the verdict. This was the third trial for Mohammed, the first two had ended in hung juries.Earlier both defence attorney Charrandass Persaud and prosecutor Attorney at law Dionne Mc Cammon had delivered spirited addresses to the jury as they presented their arguments. This was after the state had closed its case after presenting a number of witnesses including Detective Corporals Primus Sam and Eon Grannum, former policeman Safraz Matadial, retired police Detective Corporal Paul David, Government Pathologist Dr. Vivekanand Brijmohan and civilians Shameer Nabbi, Chandrawattie Mangal, Ramanan Nabbi, Fazilia Nabbi, Fazila Nabbi and Esau Mohammed.Dr. Brijmohan, who conducted the post mortem, had given the cause of death as a fractured skull and septicemia.The prosecution’s case had indicated that Wazim Mohammed had beaten Nelson on a dam at Kilcoy Village on the Corentyne and left him in a critical condition. The man was picked up and rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, then Georgetown Hospital, before being transferred back to the New Amsterdam Hospital where he succumbed on December 5th,Wholesale China Jerseys, 2005. Mohammed was later arrested and charged for the crime.The accused had given an unsworn statement from the dock, in which he denied that he had lashed Nelson causing him to die. “I did not beat anyone. I did not give any statement to the police. I am innocent,” he had told the court.In a plea of mitigation, defence attorney Persaud asked the court to be lenient. He stated that his client had been incarcerated for a long time (eight years) and that should be taken into consideration. He said that Mohammed still maintains his innocence, but is remorseful that his friend had died and conveyed his sympathy to the bereaved family. Rebutting, prosecutor Mc Cammon stated that the accused was on bail for most of the time and had only been incarcerated for 23 months. He was jailed on another offence.The judge, before passing, sentence stated that she took all the mitigating pleas into consideration before arriving at the 10-year sentence.A preliminary inquiry was conducted by Magistrate Chandra Sohan and concluded on September 25, 2007,Jerseys NFL China, at the Albion Magistrate’s Court. Mohammed was tried in 2008 and 2010.The man’s relatives who were in court yesterday wept bitterly upon hearing the evidence. His attorney has given indications of appealing the outcome.Mohammed, while on bail for the manslaughter charge, was caught by police who were on an operation up the Berbice River,Cheap NFL Jerseys China, with a quantity of marijuana. During that exercise the police had destroyed four fields comprising some eight acres of marijuana – over 18,000 plants which were between 2ft -6 ft. in height – in all weighing some 22kg. Five nurseries were also destroyed with some 25,000 seedlings. The cops had also found and destroyed two camps along with 350 kilos of dry cannabis. A Stihl grass cutter, a chainsaw and tarpaulin were also found on the location and were seized.Mohammed was sentenced to a total of eight years in jail by Magistrate Adela Nagamootoo when he appeared before her at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court on two charges of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. He was sentenced to four years on each charge. |