By George Barclay

DHUPAUL Singh, accused of using a cutlass to kill the man who had called him a lunatic back in 2014, was on Monday found guilty as charged, and sentenced to life imprisonment by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow after the jury had returned the guilty verdict.The 56-year-old Mahaica, East Coast Demerara resident would not be eligible for parole until after he has served 25 years of his sentence, Justice Barlow ruled.

Asked whether he had anything to say before sentence was passed, Singh, who had led a case of self-defence, declared: “I am sorry that a life was lost.”

The Judge noted that the prisoner did not say he was responsible for the life that had been lost.

State Prosecutor Siand Dhurjon, who along with State Counsel Shonette Austin had prosecuted the case, had called a number of witnesses in support of the prosecution’s case; which is that on September 2, 2014 Singh, called “Tailorman”, inflicted on the left side of the neck of Balkissoon a wound which severed an artery to his spine and resulted in his death.

Defence counsel Madan Kissoon acknowledged that Singh had inflicted a single blow on Balkissoon, called “Balkie”, after alleging that Balkissoon had earlier called Singh names such as “lunatic”. Kissoon urged the judge, in passing sentence, to take into account that the accused was the lone breadwinner of his home. But the judge pointed out that the jury had quite rightly rejected the defence of self-defence and provocation advanced by the accused.

Government Pathologist Dr Nehaul Singh, who performed the post-mortem, testified that the wound inflicted by Singh on Balkissoon was of such a nature that Balkissoon would have died almost immediately.

In his statement to the police, and in an unsworn statement from the dock, Singh claimed that Balkissoon, a farmer, had earlier visited his home, cursed him and called him a lunatic. He said that later that day, he, “Tailorman”, was on the backdam on his way to the police station when Balkissoon rode up on a bicycle. According to Singh, he accosted Balkissoon for insulting him at his home and for calling him a mad man. Singh said: “Balkissoon then attacked me with his cutlass, and I was too far away. He was in the process of attacking me with the weapon when, in defence of my life, I fired a blow at him and ran away. While I was running, someone pelted a cutlass at me.

“Later, two police vehicles came and the police arrested me.”

Prosecution witnesses testified that on the day in question, “Tailorman” had a cutlass in his left hand while walking on the dam when he met Balkissoon. After accosting Balkissoon, he pulled Balkissoon’s cutlass from the back of his bicycle and used the weapon to chop Balkissoon on the neck.
Balkissoon fell and was later picked up dead on the dam in a pool of blood.