BEFORE leaving the dock in chains to serve his 20-year sentence for attempted murder, the grim-faced prisoner flung the bundle of his depositions into the well of the court.Following the jury’s verdict of guilty of attempting to murder Safraz Ganni, Deon Braithwaite told presiding Judge Jo-Ann Barlow, “I committed this act in order to protect my mother and myself.”
Braithwaite was on trial for attempting to murder Ganni with a pitchfork on 29th October, 2012, at D’Urban Street, Wortmanville,Georgetown.
The judge had told him that the offence for which he was convicted carried a penalty of life imprisonment and had enquired from him whether he had anything to say before the passing of sentence.
At this stage the prisoner blurted out the confession.
Braithwaite, who showed no sign of remorse, had wounded Ganni with a pitchfork inflicting multiple injuries, which according to Dr. Fareez Khan were too numerous to mention.

Following his admission that he had committed the offence, the judge told him, “It is not too late for you to ask God for forgiveness and if you don’t know him, you will have some time to find him.”
The judge had sentenced the prisoner to 20 years, but declared that she would deduct 10 months for the period he had been incarcerated before he was granted bail.
Ganni, the star witness, had told the judge and the mixed jury about the night he was attacked by Braithwaite, who was facing a two-count indictment for attempted murder and felonious wounding.
The prosecution, led by Mr. Michael Shahoud and Miss Narissa Leander, contended through witnesses that the crime resulted from an old feud between the parties.
Witnesses had testified that on the night of the incident, the injured man became unconscious and had to be taken to hospital.
The accused was arrested on the scene by a police patrol.
The accused, unrepresented by counsel, elected to give evidence on oath to have his evidence tested by cross-examination.
He told the court that on the night of October 29, 2012,he came home and met his mother crying. He enquired of her what had happened and she told him something.
According to the accused, he saw Ganni with a knife and after the man attacked him, he disarmed him and by that time the police had arrived.
The accused said he told the police that Ganni had attacked him with a knife, but the police arrested him instead and took him to the station where he was subsequently charged with attempted murder.
When asked by the prosecution if he had seen Ganni lying in the yard that night, he said no.
The judge summed up the evidence to the jury in less than three hours yesterday, while the jury took about one hour and 30 minutes to reach their unanimous verdict.

By George Barclay