FORTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD CANE harvester, Neil Archer, was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment on Thursday for the attempted murder of a woman in 2016.

Archer, of Uitvlugt, West Coast Demerara (WCD), was sentenced by Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall at the Demerara High Court.

On February 14 of this year, Archer had confessed to the crime which he said occurred on October 19, 2016.

During his sentencing hearing on Thursday, state prosecutor, Cecilia Corbin, told the court that Archer was sentenced to two seven-year prison terms in 1997 for attempted murder and wounding, respectively.

The sentences were served concurrently which meant that he only spent seven years in jail.

According to Corbin, after Archer’s release from prison, he eventually found himself in the hands of the law again and was charged with the murder of his wife. He was remanded to prison.

On July 25, 2005, he was eventually arraigned before a High Court judge. Following the conclusion of his trial, he was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment for the lesser offence of manslaughter. He entered a guilty plea.

The prosecutor, on Thursday, informed the Court that Archer was released from prison on July 9, 2016, after serving his sentence.

On October 19, 2016, Archer was arrested by police after attacking and wielding a cutlass at the victim in this current matter.

The Court heard that she was chopped to her hand, neck, and back by Archer and received a total of 39 stitches.

In her impact statement, the victim said that Archer was an “angel of death” and asked for the maximum penalty so that Archer could not abuse other women.

She explained that during the attack Archer severed several of her fingers which had to be reattached by a doctor.

Among other things, the victim said that before the incident she was employed as a cook.

However, after the attack, the victim suffered hardships because she was unable to ply her trade, due to her being unable to regain function of her injured hand.

According to the state prosecutor, Archer showed no intention of reforming himself.

She asked the judge to impose a sentence that will be a deterrent to Archer and like-minded offenders.

The Judge, after considering the nature of the case and Archer’s previous convictions for similar crimes, sentenced him to serve 14 years’ imprisonment.

The Court also ordered that during his time behind bars, Archer must undergo monthly counselling sessions for anger management.