NABACLIS, East Coast Demerara (ECD) resident, Sherlock James, who, in 2019, killed his wife by stabbing her five times with a knife, has been sentenced to 29 years in jail.
The 59-year-old man had the sentence imposed on him Friday when he appeared before Justice Zamilla Ally-Seepaul at the High Court in Demerara. James had initially entered a not-guilty plea for the August 21, 2019 murder of Vinnette Headley-James, 44.

He was convicted after a jury of his peers returned a unanimous guilty verdict. The tragic incident occurred at the couple’s Nabaclis home.
Headley-James, a 44-year-old clothes vendor and mother of eight, was fatally stabbed during an argument with James after he accused her of having an extramarital affair.

The prosecution’s brief facts stated that, on the day in question, one of the couple’s daughters was holding her six-month-old child when she noticed her father approached her mother, who was in the kitchen and stabbed her with a knife. When the daughter attempted to intervene, James took the baby from her, threw the child on the ground, and then pointed the knife at his daughter.

The daughter fled the house in fear for her life, leaving her father stabbing her mother in the home. After the mother managed to evade James’s fury, she was observed bleeding heavily from her neck as she fled outdoors. She was taken to the CC Nicholson Hospital at Nabaclis where she died while receiving treatment. Her cause of death was determined to be multiple stab wounds.

During a previous hearing, the presiding judge heard an impact statement from the dead woman’s loved ones, reports from a prison welfare officer and psychiatrist, and submissions from attorneys for the defence and prosecution. When given a chance to speak in court, James said he was sorry.

“The court find me guilty and I am sorry for what go down with me and my wife. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I am asking for mercy,” the crying convict told Justice Ally-Seepaul.
Hewley Griffith, James’s attorney, called Headley-James’s death a “tragic incident” that was caused by an infidelity accusation. He said that his client’s actions had destroyed an entire family and that he would have to accept the repercussions of his behaviour.

Griffith told the court that James has continued to maintain his innocence even after he was found guilty of the crime. Despite this, he stated that the killer was “very remorseful.”
Griffith subsequently implored the judge to temper justice with mercy.

The presiding judge provided a detailed sentencing opinion on Friday, referencing criminal case law to explain how she determined an appropriate punishment for the convict, taking into account both aggravating and mitigating considerations as well as the goals of sentencing.

The fact that Headley-James was defenceless and unarmed when she was attacked in front of their daughter and grandchild, the fact that James was the deceased woman’s spouse, the severity of the victim’s stab wounds, and the fact that it was a domestic violence homicide were among the many aggravating circumstances she listed.

Justice Ally-Seepaul stated that she could not find any evidence to support Headley-James’s infidelity to her husband or mitigating circumstances relevant to the offence.
According to the judge, James “suspected” that his wife was having an affair because of gossip in their neighbourhood. According to the judge, James’s use of violence indicates that he was possessive of his wife and that his ego was fragile. The judge also emphasised that James did not sincerely show remorse, even though he sobbed while addressing the court.

“Even though the jury found him [James] guilty, he’s still insisting that he didn’t kill her and is accusing his daughter of lying on him,” Justice Ally-Seepaul pointed out.
The judge decided that 35 years was a suitable starting point after taking into account all of the previously provided information. She then deducted one year for the mitigating factors relevant to the offender, which included his favourable probation report and previous clean criminal record. Five years were deducted from the remaining 34 years to represent the period James was held in pre-trial custody. Following these subtractions, the offender’s final sentence was 29 years in prison. Attorneys Padma Dubraj and Rbina Christmas appeared for the prosecution.