SEVEN years after four fishermen were killed during a 2016 pirate attack on the Corentyne River, five men were, on Thursday, handed the death sentence for the crime, which has been described as “gruesome” and “heinous.”

The confessed killers, Leon Sammy of Number 75 Village, Ganesh Naidoo of Number 79 Village, Ramesh Singh of Liverpool Village, Ramchand Latchman, and Stephon Leacock of Number 77 Village in Corentyne, were sentenced by Justice Sandil Kissoon at the Berbice High Court.

Last month, the quintet admitted to the gruesome killings. The victims were identified as Hemchand Sookdeo, 45, known as ‘Dread’; Dochan Sukra, 54, known as ‘Butcher’; Dhanpaul Ramphal, 38, known as ‘Sunil’; and Munish Churman, 26, known as ‘Boyo.’

The heinous crime occurred between May 27-28, 2016, in the Lower Shell Area off Nickerie, Suriname waters. The pirates first threw Sookdeo, who was injured and bleeding, into the water. Then the other three were bound and strapped to anchors. They, too, were thrown into the ocean.

Latchman was dubbed the mastermind behind the crime.

While delivering his sentencing remarks, Justice Kissoon said that the men’s death was a “horrific crime and an atrocity of utter and complete savagery.”
The judge said that those who resolve to engage and embrace the path of crime and criminality that violates the dignity of human life and threatens the safety and well-being of members of society must be prepared to accept the consequences of such conduct.

He said that the five convicts had embarked on a homicidal rampage of piracy, hijacking, and robbery on the aforementioned days.

Among other things, he said that the specific aggravating features and factors of the crime included the degree of planning, premeditation, and orchestration by the five accused. He also considered that a deadly weapon was used.

“Each of you is hereby sentenced to suffer death in a manner prescribed by law on each count in the indictment,” the judge said as he imposed the death sentence.
He added that the sentence is in keeping with the provisions under the Hijacking and Piracy Act of Guyana.

Police, acting on information received from the captain of one of the hijacked boats, Seepersaud Persaud, of Corriverton, were able to detain a boat matching the description of the one used during the attack, and the five men were on board at the time.

Based on reports received, the pirates were armed with cutlasses when they carried out the attack. The captain was rescued by another vessel after swimming for almost three hours.

While Sookdeo’s body was found tangled in seines with a chop wound to the back of his head hours after the attack, the bodies of the three other fishermen have never been recovered. Police acting on information received, went to the Number 65 Village foreshore, Corentyne where they found the stolen boat along with the five men onboard.