HIGH Court Judge, Jo-Ann Barlow, on Thursday, sentenced a labourer to 14 years in prison for brutally attacking a woman who was seven months pregnant with a cutlass.

Richard Mohammed, 31, of Lower Pomeroon, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), was sentenced at the Essequibo High Court.

Early last month, Mohammed was expected to go on trial before a 12-member jury after pleading not guilty to attempted murder. However, at the commencement of his trial he opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of felonious wounding.

Mohammed admitted that, on March 25, 2021, in the county of Essequibo, he wounded the 23-year-old woman.

He was represented by attorney-at-law George Thomas while prosecutor Tiffini Lyken presented the State’s case.

During the sentencing hearing, the state prosecutor presented the facts of the case to the court.

According to Lyken, the chopping incident occurred in the wee hours of March 25, 2021. The mother of five had her right hand severed, and lost sight in her right eye due to injuries she received.

The woman was also chopped to the head and other parts of the body.

According to reports, her house was also set ablaze by Mohammed.

Lyken also read the victim’s impact report to the court which detailed how she has been left with a disability and is unable to properly care for herself and children.

“This is really hard on me. My children have to see their mother disable… I will never be the same,” the victim said in her written statement.

Since the victim’s home was set ablaze by Mohammed, the prosecutor said that the woman has no fixed place of abode and is forced to stay with whichever relative is willing to accommodate her and her children.

The victim is also unable to work.

“He [Mohammed] left us with nothing,” she said.

During his plea of mitigation, Thomas asked the Court to impose the “minimum sentence” on his client, who he said is young and a prime candidate for rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, the state prosecutor asked the court to consider the nature and gravity of the case. She also pleaded with the court to place weight on the life-altering injuries the victim received.

In delivering her sentence, the judge said she considered the aggravating factors of the case and the injuries the victim received.

The judge sentenced Mohammed to 14 years and ordered that the prison deduct the time spent on remand.