ATTORNEY-GENERAL and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, has signalled a pending overhaul of the justice system in Guyana, especially as it relates to sentencing of those convicted of crimes.

He has often deplored, as has many Guyanese, the unequal sentencing imposed by magistrates and judges on those convicted of criminal offences.
The general public has, time and again, expressed disgust at rulings by officers of the court, where in most instances, the punishment is either too severe for a mere misdemeanor; or not severe enough, especially in instances of armed robbery, home invasions, rapes and sexual misconduct, domestic abuse, and even murder in some instances.

On July 17, 2014, this newspaper reported that a mason was sentenced to three years for two gunpoint carjackings.
Quoting from the Chronicle report, “Convicted gunpoint carjacker, Akeiron Cummings was yesterday sentenced to three years imprisonment on two robberies under arms charges after changing his plea.
The sentences will now run concurrently after the twenty-four-year-old mason accepted the facts against him.
On March 10 he approached taxi driver Colin Williams at the Stabroek Market bus park and requested to be taken to Guyhoc Park. Cummings, upon arrival at his destination, brandished a gun and demanded the man’s valuables. He managed to relieve Williams of $3.1M in items, including his $2M car.”
“And on March 5, 2014, at Diamond Housing Scheme, taxi driver, Lionel Seenarine, was approached by Cummings for a lift to Durban Backlands in the city. The taxi driver accepted, but upon arrival at the destination, the accused pointed a gun at his head and escaped with the man’s car.
Before handing down the sentence, the chief magistrate took into consideration the seriousness of the offence, the convict’s plea, the saving of the court’s time, and the other pending matters of a similar nature.

The two-year imprisonment will run concurrently with the other jail term.”
Cummings has other pending matters of a similar nature. What punishment befitting the crimes or deterrent to a return to this type of crime is this sentence by the chief magistrate?

Newspaper archives are replete with horror stories of carjackings and tragic aftermaths, where bodies of owners/drivers were found subsequent to the theft of their vehicles, or disappeared altogether if they were not lucky enough to escape from the carjacker, while the vehicles vanished as though by magic, right into the maws of unscrupulous mechanic shop owners.

The carjackers – and potential murderers, if they have not as yet committed the ultimate crime, then enjoy, along with their relatives and friends, a short time of living well – even luxuriously, off their spoils before they embark on another foray to wrest someone’s property; and probably their life, away from them.
After all, no matter how many crimes of a similar nature (with the consequential destruction of lives and livings of their victims and their families), their sentences could be reduced to serving minimal time for only one criminal offence, with sentences running concurrently.

As for the dealers who purchase the stolen vehicles, they get off without any sanction whatsoever, because they are often given ‘deals’ and not prosecuted at all.
It would be useful that sentencing these persons serve as a deterrent for them and others inclined on preying on society, the innocent and hard-working citizens.