KENNETH Griffith was yesterday sentenced by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow in the High Court to 14 years and nine months in jail for the June 21, 2005 murder of his mother-in-law Hilda Lawrence.A tearful Griffith showed remorse after the sentence was handed down.

He told the court he was sorry and his lawyer Christopher Ram said that he was contrite.

Griffith will serve almost 15 years after deductions were made for time served, good conduct and for pleading guilty.

He had said yes to the lesser count of manslaughter but pleaded not guilty to murder.

Griffith murdered Hilda Lawrence on June 21, 2005 at Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara, during a domestic dispute with his wife Lorna Simpson.

He was also charged for feloniously wounding David Chester and Lorna Simpson, a charge which was withdrawn as a result of his guilty plea.

He was living with Lorna Simpson in a house with her extended family and he became enraged after he overheard she was planning to leave him.

He attacked and stabbed her and while she was trying to flee, her brother David Chester intervened and he too was stabbed causing his intestines to protrude.

Then Lorna and David’s mother Hilda Lawrence went to the rescue and she was stabbed by Griffith
in the shoulder, causing the knife to go straight to her lung.

Even after this Griffith in a fit of rage continued his rampage through the house, searching for his wife Lorna Simpson to kill her.

The state prosecutor was Siand Dhurjon in association with Shawnette Austin.