CHRISTIAN Joseph, 23, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the unlawful killing of his friend and the attempted murder of the man’s partner, following a horrific gasoline-fuelled attack at a mining camp in 2022.

Joseph, known as ‘Son Son’ of Kitty, Georgetown, had been indicted for the capital offence of murder in the death of Sheldon Harry but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

He also admitted to maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on Harry’s girlfriend, Greisi Andrade, with intent to maim, disfigure, or disable her. Joseph was sentenced to 10 years for the killing and two years for the attack on Andrade.

Justice Navindra Singh, at the Essequibo High Court, ordered that the sentences run concurrently.

Joseph was represented by attorney-at-law Bernard Da Silva, while State Counsel Caressa Henry led the case for the prosecution.

The gruesome incident occurred on June 5, 2022, at a mining camp at Panty Creek, Puruni River, Essequibo, where Joseph and Harry, 22, known as ‘Black Boy’ of Parika, of Puruni Backdam worked on neighbouring gold dredges.

According to the facts presented in court, the events unfolded around 7:00 hrs after a heated argument between Joseph and his girlfriend, Miriangil, led to screaming in their camp.

Miriangil called out to Andrade for assistance and began packing her belongings.

While Andrade and Miriangil were at Harry’s camp, Joseph showed up with a cutlass and threatened Harry. When his girlfriend refused to return with him, Joseph left—only to return moments later with a bucket of gasoline and a piece of wood.

Both Harry and Andrade attempted to flee, but Joseph gave chase. He caught up with them and doused them with gasoline before igniting them.

Harry’s partner managed to drag him to a nearby river in an attempt to extinguish the flames. Bystanders rushed to help, and Harry was taken to the Bartica Regional Hospital and later transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where he succumbed to severe burn injuries on June 20, 2022.

A post-mortem revealed he died from bronchopneumonia due to septic burns covering 50 to 55 per cent of his body. Parts of the attack were recorded by Andrade on her mobile phone.

Following his arrest, Joseph told investigators, “It was not my intention… I was just bluffing and the fire light.”

He claimed that Harry had collided with him, causing the gasoline to spill. The court, however, found the attack to be deliberate and unprovoked.

Justice Singh imposed the custodial sentence accordingly, ordering that the time the convict spent in pretrial custody be deducted from the sentence.