By Shauna Jemmott

THE lawyer representing the Guyana Prison Service at the inquiry into the recent riots at the Camp Street jail has raised with the Commission the matter of Justice Navendra Singh’s penchant for exacting inordinately stiff penalties.Besides administering sentences, which are “quite disproportionate” to the crime, Selwyn Pieters is charging that the said judge is singlehandedly responsible for putting away some 90 per cent of the criminals, who’ve been sentenced to over 50 years’ imprisonment.

The issue was among several raised by Pieters in the wrap-up of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 3 riot and conditions, which led to the death of 17 remand prisoners on Capital Block ‘A’.

The Canadian-based lawyer is asking the commissioners to include in their recommendations to the government, sentencing guidelines within which judges like Singh would be directed.

“You also may want to look at the issue of sentencing guidelines, because you have one judge, Justice Navendra Singh, who is responsible for 90 per cent of the sentences over 50 years,” Pieters told the Commission yesterday.

Using the overcrowding at the prison as a case in point, Pieters said:
“When I speak of that, you may want to turn your mind as well to an aging prison population.
“If inmates have been sentenced to 50 years and more without any prospect of release, you have the situation of an aging population in there.”

In his official submission, a copy of which the Guyana Chronicle has seen, Pieters said there are currently 27 inmates serving life sentences at the said penitentiary.

“A review of the sentences of convicted prisoners for murder and manslaughter,” he said, “indicates significant disparity in sentencing… ranging from 43 to 106 years in jail.”
Among those who would feel the wrath of Justice Navendra Singh were Roy Jacobs, Orwin Hinds, Cleon Hinds and Kevin October, who were each sentenced to 81 years for the murder of Clementine Fiedtkou-Parris, with their earliest possible date of release being October 06, 2069.

Bibi Shareema Gopaul was sentenced to 106 years for the role she played in the murder of her daughter, Neesa Gopaul, while her lover, Jarvis Barry Small was sentenced to 96 years.

But the list does not end there. In 2014, he sentenced Dellon Gordon, 25, to 83 years for the murder of his 23-year-old girlfriend, Natasha Johnson. His earliest possible date of release is February 17, 2071, by which time he would be 80; but his sentence does not expire until October 06, 2097.

Michael Anthony Persaud, 26, was sentenced to 83 years for the murder of his lover, Maduri Padumdeo, called ‘Sharda’, while Ajodha Persaud, called ‘Amica’, 68, was sentenced to 60 years for stabbing to death his nephew, Chaitram Gooroodiyal, following an argument.

And in 2013, Lloyd Rampersaud was sentenced to 70 years in prison for the murder of Munilall Mangru, called ‘Boy’; and in 2015, Clive Knights was sentenced to 57 years for murder of his friend, Bert Whyte.

Second-time convicted murderer, Jermaine Maynard was sentenced to 88 years in the slammer for the murder of his girlfriend, Carlisa Matthews, while Mark Assing, called “Jesse”, was sentenced to 66 years for killing Abiola Eadie during an argument.

Then there was the case of Tyrone Rowe, who was sentenced to 78 years for armed robbery and murder committed on Troy Collymore.

But Justice Narendra Singh is not the only one who’s guilty of handing down overly stiff penalties, as Justice Franklyn Holder sentenced Vinod Balgobin to 43 years in jail for the murder of his wife, Maryann Sunita Nauth in a hotel room.

As Pieters pointed out in the document, “It may seem trite, but it is obvious that it is slim to nil that any of these people will be released from the custody of the Guyana Prison Service alive, and that the cost (food, health care, beds, trained) will be significant to house them.”

This being the case, he is humbly suggesting that the government build a special wing for the aging population, which will be produced by these long-term sentences, and consider long-term planning as soon as possible to control the aging population of such inmates, who were already sentenced.