A 36-year old mother was sentenced to 24 years imprisonment last Monday for the killing of her two children
Justice Jams Bovell-Drakes handed down the sentence on Joanna Danhai who was found guilty of killing her  two children following a row with her reputed husband.    But because the sentences will run concurrently the mother of Jamal and Keisha Dannay will only serve 12 years. In addition to the sentence, it has been ordered that the woman be given psychiatric treatment while in custody in keeping with recommendations by Government Psychiatrist, Dr. Bhairo Hari.
The woman who was charged with murder offered a plea to the lesser count of manslaughter midway in the trial and was lucky to have the prosecution accepting the plea.
Defence counsel Mr. James Bond had requested that the judge suspend sentence to await a probation report.  The request was granted.
After the report was presented,  the Court’s attention was brought  to the fact that the accused might not have been master of her mind at all times, and  therefore further  postponed sentence  to give the prisoner  an opportunity to be observed by Government Psychiatrist, Dr.  Bhairo Hari.
Yesterday the doctor said that after observing the woman he concludd that she was suffering from stress brought about by her incarceration and recommended that she be given treatment to the effect.
Asked by the judge whether it was possible that she might have been suffering from stress when the offence was committed in June, 2005, the psychiatrist disclosed that on questioning the prisoner she told him that her reputed husband did not like her children and used to beat them and this motivated her to commit the offences as she wanted to save her children from further injury.
Before imposing sentences of 13 years in relation to the unlawful killing of the girl and 11 years for  the unlawful killing  of the boy the judge told her that he would have to inflict on her a punishment that would serve as a deterrent to others who would wish to commit similar  offences.
Earlier in the trial, the judge learnt from evidence that the killing came after a man the woman was madly in love with told her, “I love you too, but I do not like your two children.”
It was after receiving this dreadful news from her new lover that the woman rushed to a store and purchased insecticide poison which she administered to her children with fruit drinks.
They became ill, vomited and frothed from the mouths and were rushed to hospital by a neighbour and their mother who reported that her children were victims of food poisoning.
After the children died in hospital, a young woman who had sold the poison to the mother on request exposed the story and the police began investigating.
During the investigation, the woman  explained that the clerk was lying on her in relation to selling poison  to her as alleged,  but later admitted that she had done so and took the police to her home where the bottle with remainder of poison and  two plastic glasses, which  contained the remains of poison that were given to the children,  were unearthed from a pit latrine.
The facts were narrated by the prosecution and the team of lawyers included, Mrs. Judith Gildharie-Mursalin in association withed Miss Shivani Balcharan and Miss Prithima Kissoon who appeared as Director.
At the beginning of the trial the accused who was represented by Mr. James Bond, had pleaded not guilty.
The judge began holding a voir dire (a trial within a trial) after  Bond objected to a confession statement which the prosecution was about to present.   Bond was contending that the statement was obtained by oppression and was not free and voluntary.
But at the ruling , the Judge said that he found that the statement was obtained freely and voluntarily and declared that it would be tendered in evidence.
It was after this ruling, that the accused through her lawyer declared her intention to change her plea stating that she was not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser counts of manslaughter in respect to her two children, Keisha aged nine and Jamal aged seven.
The judge then directed the jury to return formal verdicts of not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter in relation to the two counts.
At this stage, the defence counsel urged the judge to postpone sentence to await a probation report and plea in mitigation.
The judge agreed to the request.
Mrs. Girdharie-Mursalin had told the jury that in the year 2005,  Joanna Danhai met one Shevon Hinds with whom she developed a romantic relationship and as a result in June, 2005, she and her children moved in with Hinds at his mother’s home at Lot 1 Farm, East Bank, Essequibo.
Joanna and Hinds later developed problems in the relationship and he locked her and the children out of the bedroom.
On August 29, 2005, Joanna went to Bukhan’s General Store at Parika where she asked the store clerk Monica Thompson whether they had “Cedal” poison.  Monica told her that they had “Monitor” instead.   At that time Joanna’s main concern was whether or not this monitor poison she was hearing about was as clear  as water.  Monica Thompson showed Joanna the Monitor poison which she purchased.
On August 30 Joanna gave her children their dinner and shortly after both children complained of having belly pains and began vomiting.
The children were taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital where Jamal Danhai died.    Keisha died the following day.
According to the prosecutor the post-mortem examinations were conducted by Forensic Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh who found that both Jamal and Keisha Danhai died from Pesticide poisoning.
Stomach contents taken from the bodies were removed by the doctor and forwarded to  forensic analyst, Steven Greaves who found that they contained a mixture of two pesticides, Gramaxzone and Monitor.
On September 12, 2005,the month following the incident, Joanna confessed by giving a written statement to the police . She stated in that statement that she went and bought a yellowish poison in a bottle from a store at Vreed-en-Hoop.  She then said that on the 30th she opened the bottle with the poison and threw some in two separate plastic glasses with fruta  orange juice and gave her two children Keisha and Jamal.