By Jeune Bailey Van Keric

HANSEL Andre Lewis, a deportee known as ‘Smiley’, was on Friday sentenced by Justice Brassington Reynolds to 13 years’ imprisonment for the attempted murder of Chris Burrowes in a slashing incident which occurred in the wee hours of January 01, 2013 at the Rainbow Bar located at Charles Place, New Amsterdam Berbice.Lewis was, on June 20, found guilty of slashing Burrowes’s throat, but his sentencing was delayed due to the unavailability of the probation report. He was represented by Defence Counsel Ramesh Rajkumar

On Friday, Probation and Welfare Officer Judith Vankennie told the court that Lewis feels badly about the incident and continues to maintain that he is wrongfully accused. At time of the incident, he and the virtual complainant were at the bar consuming alcohol when an argument ensued. According to Lewis, they both went their separate ways, and he could not recall any physical altercation between them.

Probation Officer Vankennie said Lewis had experienced a happy childhood while residing in Guyana, but he migrated to the United States in 1990 and came into conflict with the law, hence he was deported to his homeland in 2002.

A report from the National Psychiatric Hospital revealed that he had been admitted there in 2008 for drug abuse; and investigations conducted in the community of John Lewis Street in Angoy’s Avenue, where Lewis live, revealed that he is known for his alcoholic tendencies, and has caused disturbances in the community.

Lewis confessed to having consumed alcohol at the time of the incident, but was unable to recall the incident for which he was indicted. It was submitted that Lewis may benefit from a period of psychiatric evaluation and treatment as a means of addressing his drug abuse and alcoholism.

Prior to handing down sentence, Justice Reynolds told the defendant, “Your life story resembles one of turmoil and tragedy…there are people lining up early in the mornings to benefit form the opportunity which you wasted. You had brushes with the law and had to suffer deportation…the jury did not believe your account. They did not buy the story. Because an offensive weapon was used, the offence became aggravated, (and) even though you slashed him just once, the injury is life threatening.”

Prosecutor Stacey Goodings had revealed during the trial that the men were consuming alcoholic beverages, but it was Burrowes who had objected and asked Lewis to remove from near to him, because Lewis was smoking “something which was high-scented.”

Burrowes subsequently left the bar and walked some distance to urinate. He was in the process of zipping his pants when he saw Lewis remove a two-inch broad, plastic handled knife from his left side pocket and quickly stab him on his right side neck.
Burrowes was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital, where he was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and remained a patient for almost a month.