SWAT officer Constable Sherwin Peters was on Thursday sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2021 fatal shooting of 29-year-old Dartmouth businessman Orin Boston.

The sentence was handed down by Justice Sandil Kissoon at the High Court in Essequibo.

“The actions of Peters were unlawful, unreasonable, unjustified, disproportionate, and excessive…The resort to lethal force was without any basis against an unarmed man asleep in his bed,” Justice Kissoon said while delivering his sentencing.

The judge further pointed out that the SWAT unit, which consisted of officers specially trained for high-risk interventions, failed in their responsibility to act with caution, restraint, and professionalism.

Additionally, the judge said Peters’ claim that a confrontation had occurred was contradicted by both the testimony of his fellow officers and the findings of the crime scene investigators.

The State prosecutor had referenced a lawsuit filed by Boston’s widow against the State for the unlawful killing, noting that compensation had been paid to her.

The prosecutor urged the court to consider this as a mitigating factor.

However, the judge clarified that while Guyanese law allows compensation to be considered in mitigation, in this instance, the payment was made by taxpayers, which affected his view on its mitigating value.

The judge also remarked that Peters was “fortunate” not to face a murder charge.

Last month, a 12-member jury found Peters guilty of manslaughter.  Peters, 34, who was unrepresented by legal counsel, had been out on $1 million bail pending the outcome of the case.

During the trial, key prosecution witness Constable Adrian Moore, then a SWAT officer and currently attached to the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU), provided a detailed account of the early morning raid that led to Boston’s death.

Moore told the court that on September 14, 2021, approximately ten SWAT ranks received orders from Assistant Superintendent Gordon to proceed to the Essequibo Coast for an anti-crime operation.

The team, heavily armed and instructed to remain “battle prepped,” stayed overnight at the GPF Training School in Suddie before launching several raids the next morning.

Around 04:00 hours on September 15, the team arrived at Boston’s property in Dartmouth, which housed two buildings in a single yard.

Moore recounted that the unit was split into Alpha and Bravo teams, with him and Peters assigned to Alpha.

During the operation, Moore said he heard a gunshot after entering one of the buildings. He rushed to the second room, where he saw Boston bleeding from his shoulder, slumped partially on a bed.

He testified that Peters, along with two other officers, was present and appeared to be rendering aid. Boston was later taken to the Suddie Public Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police initially claimed there was a confrontation between Boston and the SWAT officers during the search. However, this account was disputed by Boston’s wife, and no weapon or contraband was reported to have been found during the raid.