Defendant pleads guilty to manslaughter of Heaven Hill resident

AFTER spending the last six years on remand, Leonard Fredricks on Monday confessed to the fatal stabbing, in 2015, of Matthews Ridge miner, Peter James.

Fredricks was indicted for murder, but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, which was accepted by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Demerara High Court.

He admitted that on December 30, 2015, at Hell Hill, Mathews Ridge, he unlawfully killed James, of neighbouring Heaven Hill.

The matter has been adjourned until May 9, for the presentation of the probation report and sentencing.

The State is being represented by Prosecutor Latifah Elliot, while Attorney-at-Law Teriq Mohammed is on record for the accused.

According to the facts presented in court, Fredricks and the deceased had been embroiled in a heated argument two months prior to the stabbing, so when he saw him drinking in Hell Hill on the night of December 30, 2015, he seized the opportunity to even the score, and make good his escape, but was later arrested.