IT is often said that the second time is the charm, but this was not the case for Julius Brunker, who had initially dodged a 40-year sentence through a successful appeal, and now finds himself facing a life sentence without parole after a retrial.

The sentence was handed down by Justice Navindra Singh on Monday at the Sexual Offences Court in the Georgetown High Court.
Last month, in the retrial for a 2014 rape case, Brunker was once again found guilty by a 12-member jury for the crime.

The offence occurred on February 15, 2014, when the accused, armed with a knife, broke and entered the home of the victim. While she was in bed with her 18-month-old baby, he committed the rape.
In 2018, Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall, in the Sexual Offences Court at the Georgetown High Court, sentenced Branker to serve 40 years after a 12-member jury found him guilty of the crime.

In his appeal, he claimed that the trial judge erred on several pertinent issues leading up to the verdict in the High Court.
As it relates to the severity of the sentence, Julius Brunker claimed that the trial judge erred in law by failing to apply case law principles that promote fairness in sentencing.

Last year, the appeal case was heard via Zoom by Chancellor (ag) of the Judiciary, Yonette Cummings-Edwards, and Justices of Appeal, Dawn Gregory and Rishi Persaud.
The Chancellor, in her ruling, agreed with Branker’s contention and stated that the conviction will be set aside based on the evidence presented in the case.

However, she said that the issue of sentencing was not addressed.
He was represented by attorney-at-law Adrian Thompson, while the State was represented by Marisa Edwards.