LEONARD Fredricks, was, on Monday, sentenced to serve the next five years, six months in prison for killing 50-year-old Matthews Ridge miner, Peter James, in 2015.

He was sentenced by Justice Jo-Ann Barlow at the Demerara High Court on Monday.

On April 25, Fredricks was indicted for murder, but opted to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter, which was accepted.

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

The state was represented by Prosecutor Latifah Elliot, while attorney-at-law Teriq Mohammed was on record for Fredricks.

According to the facts presented in court, Fredricks and the deceased had been embroiled in a heated argument two months prior. When he [Fredericks] saw him drinking in Hell Hill on the night of December 30, 2015, he seized the opportunity to even the score. He managed to escape after inflicting the fatal injuries, but was later arrested.