ATTORNEY-at-law Melvin Duke has filed an appeal with the Appeal Court against the four-year sentence imposed on his client, 25-year-old Bisham Ramkishore, who was found guilty of causing the death of his friend during a motor vehicular accident back in 2018 at Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara.
On September 20, 2019, Ramkishore was convicted by a West Demerara Magistrate for causing the death of Victor Ram on July 22, 2018, and having been sentenced to four years in prison, was incarcerated at the Lusignan Prison.

Ramkishore’s grandmother, Bibi Sookdeo, through his attorney, moved to the Appeal Court, seeking to have his conviction and sentence overturned.
According to Court documents, on July 22, 2018, Ramkishore was the driver of motorcar PTT 6297, while the deceased was in the front passenger seat, and another person was in the rear passenger seat.
The application read that the vehicle was at an unlighted portion of the road when a pedestrian suddenly crossed in front of it, causing Ramkishore to swerve so “erratically” that the car flipped over. As a result, both occupants of the front seat, this being Ramkishore and Ram, flew through the front windshield, ultimately resulting in the latter dying.
Ramkishore reported suffered severe head and skull injuries, and was initially pronounced dead on arrival at the West Demerara Hospital, but was later found to have been in a coma.

He was subsequently brought to Georgetown and taken to the Balwant Singh Hospital where he was placed on life-support machines.
That he’s still alive today is a miracle, as the doctors were forced to perform surgery while his brain tissue was outside of his head. Unfortunately, he is permanently disabled.
Ramkishore’s grandmother stated in the document that her family tried to settle the matter with the family of the deceased but were unsuccessful, because of the “large and unreasonable” sum of money they demanded.
It was on those grounds that the family is filing the appeal, since Ramkishore has to undergo physical therapy, and take special medication to stabilise his condition.
Additionally, because the medication at reference is not readily available at the prison’s infirmary, nor at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, sourcing it elsewhere places a burden on the State.
According to the document, “Ramkishore is virtually helpless; can barely walk, and speaks with a prolonged slur.”
This incapacitation has caused Ramkishore to become easy prey for other inmates, to the point where a recent attack caused him to suffer additional injuries.
In June, an application for bail, pending appeal, was filed by his lawyer, and was heard by Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Demerara High Court. Bail was granted in the sum of $500,000, pending the hearing of the matter.