JOHN BLANCHARD, who was sentenced to life in prison after he admitted hacking his three children to death, has moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge the severity of his sentence.
Blanchard, in 2016, was sentenced by Judge Jo-Ann Barlow at the Demerara High Court, after he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter.

He admitted that, on October 11, 2011, at Dr. Charles Sand Road, Soesdyke, East Bank Demerara, he killed the children – six-year-old Joy, four-year-old Daniel and 10-year-old Belika Blanchard.

Judge Barlow indicated that Blanchard had to serve 30 years before he could be eligible for parole.

Dissatisfied, Blanchard moved to the Appeal Court and is arguing that the sentence was manifestly excessive and severe in all the circumstances of the case.

On October 11, 2011, Blanchard was detained following the chopping to death of the children. Belika and Daniel died almost instantly, while Joy succumbed a day later at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation where she was receiving treatment.

The family resided at the location where the murders occurred, and, according to reports, at the time of the incident, the children’s mother had left for the interior to seek a better job.