RICHARD Martin, a former farmer from Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), has been given a 13-year prison sentence for the lesser offence of manslaughter.

At his arraignment before Justice Simone Morris-Ramlall of the Demerara High Court in February, Martin, 54, opted to go through a trial by pleading not guilty to the murder charge against him.
However, after consulting with his lawyer, Domnick Bess, he maintained his not guilty plea to the murder charge but elected to plead guilty to the lesser count of manslaughter. He confessed to the unlawful killing of Ovid Chester in 2020.

Chester, 52, also known as “Spade” or “Brucky” from Lot 123 South Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara (ECD), was fatally stabbed on September 2, 2020, at Bourda Market in Georgetown.
Before handing down the sentence, the judge considered probation and prison conduct reports, as well as impact statements from the family of the deceased.

She also considered the nature and gravity of the offence, the fact that the killing was premeditated, Martin’s caution statement in which he admitted to the crime, the fact that the now deceased man was unarmed and posed no threat to Martin; Chester was stabbed in the region of his vital organs, and the fact that a life was lost senselessly.

The judge began the offender’s sentence at a starting point of 20 years, from which five years were subtracted for his early guilty plea. Another three years were deducted for his sincere statement of remorse, and one year was added for his previous conviction.

Martin, according to Justice Morris-Ramlall, did not receive the full one-third deduction for an early guilty plea because his trial had already begun when he chose to submit the guilty plea.
In her sentencing remarks, the judge acknowledged the convict’s efforts towards rehabilitation and ordered that he continue to receive anger management classes while incarcerated.

The matter was prosecuted by State Counsel Praneta Seeraj and State Counsel Simran Gajraj.
According to investigations, Martin went to Bourda Market on September 1, 2020, to sell a construction net. There, he met Chester, who accepted his offer to sell the item.

After a while, he decided to go since he had not seen Chester come back. On September 2, 2020, at around 10:00 hours, Martin came back to the market carrying a knife and set out to find Chester. While Chester was standing in a passageway off North Road, Martin confronted him. He began to inquire about the profits generated from the sale of the construction nets to Chester.

A heated dispute ensued between the two, leading the convict to retrieve a knife and inflict a stab wound to Chester’s chest. Upon exiting the alley, Chester collapsed on Bourda Street.
The injured man was subsequently transported to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) where he was pronounced dead on arrival.