A WEST Coast Berbice father of eight, who was initially indicted on an attempted murder charge, ‘threw in the towel’ after the closure of the prosecution’s case and pleaded guilty to wounding his fellow villager with intent.
He communicated his position when he appeared before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Berbice Assizes last week.

Bheem Evans, 55, called “Gum,” who was unrepresented, had moments earlier opted to give a sworn statement in which he declared that the complainant, Anil Kalamadeen, had injured his 17-year-old son in his mouth during a fight.
Evans stated that after parting the young men, he reported the incident to the police station before accompanying his son to the hospital.

The following day, the complainant’s uncle went to Evans’s home and made threats with a cutlass. The police were called but they did not visit the area until 22:00hrs, when they had to use torchlights to examine the outer walls of the building which bore chop marks.
On November 11, 2015, at No. 11 Village, West Coast Berbice, just after daybreak, Evans recalled sending his 12-year-old son to the shop to purchase a bag of tennis rolls and an aerated drink , but  moments later he saw the child crying as he returned home.

“After enquiring what had transpired, I armed myself with a cutlass and marked Anil across his face, and his left arm, and he started to bleed. I did not intend to kill him, just wanted to mark him,” he told the Judge, State Prosecutrix Tuanna Hardy, and the mixed jury.
Prior to the defendant’s change of his plea to guilty, accepting that he had wounded Kalamadeen with intent, so as to cause grievous bodily harm, the judge requested that Attorney Mursaline Bacchus, appear amicus curiae (literally friend of the court), thereby advising  the father of eight. Consequently, Evans maintained his guilty plea and readiness to face the consequences of his actions.

In handing down the sentence, Justice Barlow noted that the act was not a defensive one, but was a result of anger.

“You cannot take the law into your hands. Your act has left a young man with a permanent scar across his face. The sentence is 10 years, but I have deducted one year, 11 months for the period you have spent in custody and a further year for your plea of guilty,” Justice Barlow told the convict.